MILLER, THOMAS (1807-1874)

—Poet and novelist, of humble parentage, worked in early life as a basket-maker. He pub. Songs of the Sea Nymphs (1832). Going to London he was befriended by Lady Ble ing ton ( q.v. ) and S. Rogers ( q.v. ), and for a time engaged in busine as a bookseller, but was unsucce ful and devoted himself exclusively to literature, producing over 40 vols., including several novels, e.g. , Royston Gower (1838), Gideon Giles the Roper , and Rural Sketches . In his stories he succe fully delineated rural characters and scenes.