West Country Poets

JOHN LASH LATEY (fl.1839,40)

Mr. CHANTER, in speaking of the literary celebrities of Barnstaple, says:

'In 1830, a Mr. LATEY, a bread baker, lived here; and on his death, his son, John Lash LATEY, who had been brought up as a printer, came here to carry on the business, and resided here some years.  He was a man of considerable literary taste and ability.  He had previously, whilst at Tiverton, printed and published "The Earthquake, and other Poems," and during his residence here he contributed a series of interesting articles, written in the Devonshire dialect, signed "Roger Clodpole," and other contributions, both prose and verse, to the North Devon Journal.'

He also wrote 'The Ballot, a Letter to the Rev. Sydney SMITH (1839); and 'The Pattern Book of Letters for Working People' (1840).

[No samples of poetry given]

Transcribed by Sandra Windeatt from: Wright, W. H. K.,(1896) West-Country Poets: Their Lives and Works. London: Elliot Stock, pp.48-51