John Gilpin

Cowper had heard the story from his friend Lady Austen.

Gilpin was said to be a wealthy draper from Cheapside in London, who owned land at Olney, Buckinghamshire, near where Cowper lived.

It is likely that he was a Mr Beyer, a linen draper of the Cheapside corner of Paternoster Row.

[1] The poem tells how Gilpin and his wife and children became separated during a journey to the Bell Inn, Edmonton, after Gilpin loses control of his horse which bolts and carries him ten miles farther to the town of Ware.

[2] A sculpture by Angela Godfrey, which was inspired by Cowper's poem about Gilpin now sits in Fore Street, Edmonton, London.