Remembering Hull’s William Mason, born on this day (February 12th) 1725

One of Hull’s most famous sons, yet perhaps least widely known, is William Mason. Born in Hull on 12 February 1725, William Mason was poet, cleric, author and garden designer. Educated at Hull Grammar School and St. John’s College Cambridge, it was whilst at St. John’s College, Cambridge that he developed his love of literature under his tutor Dr. Powell. It was also at St. John’s College where he met the poet Thomas Gray of whom he developed a lifelong admiration.

In 1745 he took his bachelor’s degree, and around the same time he composed his Musaeus, a Monody on the death of Mr. Pope which was published to acclaim in 1747. In 1751 he published the historical tragedies of Elfrida and Caractacus (1759).

He was ordained in 1754 and held several posts in churches, including precentor and canon of York Minster (1762). The same year in which he was ordained, Mason went abroad as Chaplain to the Earl of Holderness and upon his return spent the remainder of his life in Aston, South Yorkshire.

Portrait of William Mason

In 1765 he married Maria, daughter of William Sherman a storekeeper at Hull Garrison, but sadly Maria died within twelve months of their marriage. After this Mason shared his attention between the charge of his parish of Aston, his garden and poetry. As a garden designer his work included that for the Viscount Harcourt. He acted as editor of his friend and biographer Thomas Gray and went on to compose the ‘The English Garden’, a long poem in four books, completed in 1782. In 1785 he was then Prime Minister, William Pitt the younger choice to become Poet Laureate, but Mason refused.

Aspiring to be a great dramatic writer by adapting the ancient Greek forms for the modern stage, Elfrida was Mason’s first attempt but was seen as a failure. Mason was also regarded as a notable artist and his work was shown at the Royal Academy 1782-1786.

Mason died on 7th April 1797, the result of an injury to his leg, sustained when stepping out of his carriage. A monument to William Mason can be found in poet’s corner in, the South Transept of Westminster Abbey, alongside individuals such as Robert Burns, Emily, Charlotte and Ann Bronte, Lord Byron, Lewis Carol, Philip Larkin, Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and William Wordsworth to name but a few.

If you’d like to explore the works of William Mason, the History Centre holds the Mason Collection, a set of works by William Mason [Ref: L DFMW].

Neil Chadwick

Librarian/Archivist