Thomas Prest was born in Marylebone, Middlesex, on 13 May 1810. His father, William Prest, was a blacksmith; his mother was Ann Peckett; Thomas was their third child and second son. The family had previously lived in Shoreditch, but Thomas's parents married in St. Saviour's church, Southwark, which had a fair reputation for bending the rules and not asking too many questions. William may have come from North Yorkshire, and Ann from Norfolk, but these guesses apart, his family background is unknown.

He was trained as a compositor, or type-setter, and in 1835 was working for George Drake, of 12 Houghton Street, Clare Market, London. Here he edited and printed various books of snippets, as well as some song-books, such as The Singer's Penny Magazine and Reciter's Album (1836). Many of these

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Citation: Collins, Dick. "Thomas Peckett Prest". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 June 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12211, accessed 19 March 2024.]

12211 Thomas Peckett Prest 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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