Laurence Eusden was born in Spofforth in the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1688 (date unknown) to the Rev.

Eusden secured this post due to the death of the previous Poet Laureate, Nicholas Rowe, and the recommendation of Joseph Addison.

[5] He was ordained as a cleric in the 1720s,[1] and assumed the office of rector of Coningsby, Lincolnshire, but his elevation to Poet Laureate brought him derision from his social and literary peers.

[5] However, his The Origin Of The Knights Of The Bath[permanent dead link‍],[6] dedicated to the young William Augustus, later Duke of Cumberland, is available online.

A-while vouchsafe, young Hero, to retire 'Mid Streams, and Grottos, and th'Aonian Choir: Apollo, God of Fore-sight, who with Ease Thy distant, ripen'd Years, as present, sees, Bids all the Muses Thee receive with Pride, To all the Muses by all Arts ally'd.