William Hamper

He was the only child of Thomas Hamper of West Tarring, Sussex, and his wife Elizabeth Tyson, born at Birmingham on 12 December 1776.

[1] He began his literary career by contributing poems to the Gentleman's Magazine the first being ‘The Beggar-Boy,’ 1798, p. 794, which was signed ‘H.

John Nichols in his ‘History of Leicestershire,’ George Ormerod in ‘Cheshire,’ William Bray in ‘Surrey,’ and Edmund Cartwright in ‘Sussex’ acknowledged help from him, and he gave assistance to the anonymous author of ‘Kenilworth Illustrated,’ 1821.

These were burnt, but many of his letters had been copied and printed in the notes and queries column of the ‘Birmingham Weekly Post.’ [1] Hamper edited a volume of ‘Masques performed before Queen Elizabeth.

From a coeval copy, Chiswick, 1820,’ which he (wrongly) attributed to George Ferrers; and he printed for private circulation in 1822 ‘Two Copies of Verses on the Meeting of Charles the First and Henrietta Maria, in the Valley of Kineton, below Edge-Hill, July 13, 1643,’ which were preserved in manuscript among Dugdale's papers.

[1] From 1812 to 1831 he was an intimate friend and correspondent of John Britton, whom he aided in compiling the ‘Beauties of England and Wales,’ and the ‘Dictionary of Architecture and Archæology in the Middle Ages.’ A list of 140 ways of spelling Birmingham, drawn up by Hamper, appears in John Alfred Langford's ‘Century of Birmingham Life.’[1] On 7 November 1803, Hamper married Jane Sharp at Ringwood, Hampshire.

Hamper's wife is the youngest daughter of William Sharp of Newport, Isle of Wight, a politician and literary student.