Robert Bloomfield

Stephen Van-Hagen (University of Coventry)
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Robert Bloomfield was born in Honington, Suffolk, in early December, 1766. He was the son of George Bloomfield, a village tailor who died when his son was less than a year old, and Elizabeth Manby Bloomfield, a schoolmistress who taught her six children to read and write. At the age of six Bloomfield was sent to school for several months in Ixford under the care of a man named Rodwell, before his mother remarried and had another family. Bloomfield’s brother George later recalled that Robert had been able to read even before this, and that early reading matter available to him included the Bible, 

Pilgrim’s Progress

Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

The Deserted Village

, and Isaac Watts’ 

Hymns

. At eleven, Bloomfield was apprenticed to William Austin, a farmer in Sapiston,…

8292 words

Citation: Van-Hagen, Stephen. "Robert Bloomfield". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2006; last revised 08 March 2022. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=452, accessed 14 December 2024.]

452 Robert Bloomfield 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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