Inside Croydon

CROYDON CHRONICLES: A Restoration period writer who taught at the Free School made friends with ‘literary lords’ and the Poet Laureate.
DAVID MORGAN looks back nearly 400 years to the life and work of John Oldham

Poetry performances – spoken word – are increasingly popular these days thanks to artists like The Civilised Savage, who appeared at The Croydonites Fringe and was a guest on the latest Croydon Insider podcast. Poetry slams are the places to be.

Looking through the archives, the poets who were the most well-known in the past have usually relied on the written word, crafting their verses for others to read and interpret and to enjoy and revisit.

Restoration poet: John Oldham’s work became well-known when he was teaching in Croydon

Poets have rarely, if ever, made enough money to live on. They need to have a job which helped to put money in their pocket but still left time for them to write. Either that or have a rich patron who would provide an income.

John Oldham was in that predicament. It was time spent in Croydon, doing a job which he described as a “drudgery”, which allowed him to hone his craft.

Born on August 9, 1653, in Shipton in Gloucestershire, Oldham was the son of a non-conformist minister. This was at the time that Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarians had overthrown the king in a civil war.

Oldham attended Tedbury School before gaining a place at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where he studied Greek and Latin, showing a mastery of those languages. It was also where he developed his love of poetry. Continue reading →