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Collection Description
The Sussex Poets Collection contains notes and articles relating to
three minor eighteenth-century Sussex poets: William Hayley (1745–1820),
James Hurdis (1763–1801) and Charlotte Smith (1749–1806).
William Hayley wrote poetry which enjoyed a certain popularity but
was ridiculed by critics, including Byron. James Hurdis was appointed
professor of poetry at Oxford University in 1793. Charlotte Smith published
poetry and novels, supporting her many children through her writing
after leaving her husband (an habitual debtor). The notes were compiled
by Kenneth Povey (1898–1965), who published widely on the subject
of eighteenth-century poetry. After Povey’s death, some of his
papers passed to his friend Basil William Sholto Mackenzie, 2nd Baron
Amulree. The papers were bequeathed to the University in 1984, after
Lord Amulree’s death.
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