Thomas Atkinson (1801–1833) was a Scottish poet and miscellaneous writer.

Life

Atkinson was a native of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, where he carried on business as a bookseller. He followed in the shoes of his father, also Thomas Atkinson. He was apprenticed to Brash & Reid, booksellers, and continued for a time there. From 1823 to 1830 Atkinson was in partnership with David Robertson, having taken over the business of William Turnbull on his death. Later he ran a bookshop at 80 Trongate under the name of Atkinson & Co. After the passing of the

Reform Bill The Reform Acts (or Reform Bills, before they were passed) are legislation enacted in the United Kingdom in the 19th and 20th century to enfranchise new groups of voters and to redistribute seats in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the U ...

, Atkins became a candidate in the liberal interest for the representation of the

Stirling Burghs Stirling Burghs was a district of burghs constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1708 to 1918. Creation The British parliamentary constituency was created in 1708 following the Acts of Union, 1707 and ...

in parliament, but was unsuccessful, losing to

Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny Archibald Primrose, Lord Dalmeny (2 October 1809 – 23 January 1851), was a British Whig politician. Early life He was the eldest son and heir apparent of Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery (1783–1868), whom he predeceased, by his wife ...

. He then fell ill with

consumption Consumption may refer to: * Eating *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically known as consumption * Consumer (food chain), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of n ...

, and died at sea on a passage to

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

, 10 October 1833.

Works

In 1821 appeared the pseudonymous work ''Three Nights in Perthshire'' by Percy Yorke Jr., written by Thomas Atkinson. With his older friend David Robertson, he had made a visit to

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

, the historical county: they went to the

Trossachs The Trossachs (; ) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the are ...

, now in the

Stirling council area The Stirling council area (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and has an estimated population of (). It was created in 1975 as a lower-tier district within the Central region. The district covered parts of the historic counties ...

, as is

Kippen Kippen is a village in west Stirlingshire, Scotland. It lies between the Gargunnock Hills and the Fintry Hills and overlooks the Carse of Forth to the north. The village is west of Stirling and north of Glasgow. It is south-east of Loch Lo ...

, Robertson's native town. The book is a fictionalised account of their visit to

Loch Ard Loch Ard (Scottish Gaelic: Loch na h-Àirde) is a loch, located in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, Stirling (council area), Stirling council area, Scotland. Overview The name of the loch comes from ''àird'', the Scottish Gaelic w ...

and the farm Ledard there, run by the Macfarlane family. It was privately printed, and given a later edition. Atkinson published the ''Sextuple Alliance'' (poems on

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

), dedicated to James Ewing of Levenside, a friend. A fortnightly, then weekly literary periodical, ''The Ant'', appeared end 1826–end 1827. It had a supposed co-editor "Solomon Saveal" (see wikt:save-all). A Scottish-themed annual, ''The Chameleon'', appeared three times from 1831.

Legacy

Monies left in Atkinson's will created the Atkinson Institution in Glasgow. It was a trust for technical education, functioning in 1861. It was in existence until the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College was founded in 1887 when its funds were used for student bursaries.

References

1801 births 1833 deaths 19th-century Scottish poets {{Scotland-poet-stub