Ben Preston

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Ben Preston

Watercolour portrait by John Sowden of Ben Preston, Poet.

from John Sowden's notebooks:

"Was born in 1819 at Bradford. Mr Preston's father was a handloom weaver and afterwards entered the service of Mr Richard Fawcett. Ben was sent to the Quaker School in Chapel Street, Leeds Road, and after a short period of schooling he was apprenticed to Mr Fawcett to learn woolsorting.

It was in August, 1837, that Ben Preston’s first poetic essay obtained publicity in the ‘Bradford Observer’ while he was working at the sorting board. It was entitled ‘The Reformer’s Song’. This early then Preston had been imbued with the spirit of liberation in political matters. Ben Preston used dialect, not in any antiquarian intention; he used it because he wrote from his own heart, to the hearts of those around him, and in so writing he did for the West Riding dialect what Edwin Waugh did for the Lancashire dialect and what the Reverend William Barnes did for the dialect of Doncaster.

For several years then Preston wrote and published many poems in the dialect, finding ready publications in the press of the day.

In 1872 the volume of collected writings was issued by his friend and neighbour, Abraham Holroyd, of Saltaire. It included “Natterin’ Nan”, perhaps the most popular poem that he wrote - “T’ Poor Weyver” and many others which few who loved the dialect will be unfamiliar with. Edwin Waugh characterised Ben Preston as the ablest Yorkshire poet of his time, while the Reverend S Baring-Gould in speaking of an hour with Preston’s collected poems said it was to him "an hour of unclouded happiness.” He left Bradford in 1865 and resided on Gilstead motor and Eldwick. He died in 1902 at the age of 83, leaving a numerous(?) family."

Creator

John Sowden

Image filename

sowden-151