Robert Eyres Landor (10 May 1781 – 26 January 1869) was an English writer,

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

Life

Landor was the third son of Dr Walter Landor, a physician, and his wife Elizabeth Savage, and thereby the brother of

Walter Savage Landor Walter Savage Landor (30 January 177517 September 1864) was an English writer, poet, and activist. His best known works were the prose ''Imaginary Conversations,'' and the poem "Rose Aylmer," but the critical acclaim he received from contempora ...

. He was born at

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

and went to Bromsgrove School, then as a scholar, to

Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...

in 1797. He became a Fellow of Worcester College and a clergyman. In 1815 Landor went to Italy and met his brother Walter and his wife as they made their temperamental journey through France. He became vicar of

Hughenden Hughenden may refer to: *Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia * Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada *Hughenden Valley, a village in Buckinghamshire, England *Hughenden Manor, a mansion in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Eng ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

in 1817 until 1825, and was also Chaplain in ordinary to the

Prince Regent A prince regent or princess regent is a prince or princess who, due to their position in the line of succession, rules a monarchy as regent in the stead of a monarch, e.g., as a result of the sovereign's incapacity (minority or illness) or ab ...

. He became Rector of Nafford in Birlingham in 1829 and remained there until his death. Birlingham is situated at the foot of the Bredan Hills and within sight of the

Malverns The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit af ...

. He is noted as never having been absent from Sunday Duty and the church at Birlingham was restored with money left by him. He was somewhat reluctant to claim credit for his own work. The drama ''The Count Arezzi'' of 1824 was at the time attributed to

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

and the story ''The Fawn of Sertorius'' (1846) to Walter Savage Landor. He is also said to have tried to destroy copies of the dramas ''The Earl of Brecon'', ''Faiths Fraud'' and ''The Ferryman'' from 1841. It was said that he greatly resembled his eldest brother, Walter Savage Landor, in his genius and classical knowledge, but in nothing else. His cousin's daughter Lucy Landor recalled ''"Once only I recall his visiting my father and he then struck me as the most wonderful and delightful talker I ever heard. He spoke of his early travels in Italy and brought every scene before one. If he 'talked like a book', it was because his language was so beautiful and his descriptions so vivid and striking. His conversation made far more impression on me than did that of is brotherW.S.L., whose tremendous laughs I recall much better than his saying."''

Works

*''Guy's Porridge Pot'' (1808) *''The Count Arezzi'' (1824) *''The Impious Feast. A Poem in ten books'' (1828) *''The Earl of Brecon'' *''Faiths Fraud'' *''The Ferryman'' (1841) *''The Fawn of Sertorius'' (1846) *''The Fountain of Arethusa'' (1848)

References

*''Robert Eyres Landor: Selections from his poetry and prose with an introduction biographical & critical by

Eric Partridge Eric Honeywood Partridge (6 February 1894 – 1 June 1979) was a New Zealand–United Kingdom, British lexicography, lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its slang. His writing career was interrupted only by his service in the ...

'', The Fanfrolico Press, 1927, and later reprints. *Lucy Landor ''Family Papers at the Salt Library Stafford'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Landor, Robert Eyres 1781 births 1869 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Anglican poets People educated at Bromsgrove School Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford English male poets