The New International Encyclopædia/Kenyon, John

KENYON, John (1784-1856). A British poet and philanthropist. He was born on the island of Jamaica, West Indies; was left an orphan while a schoolboy in Bristol, England; and was educated at the Charterhouse, London, and at Peterhouse College, Cambridge. He became the associate and friend of Coleridge, Wordsworth, Southey, Charles Lamb, the Brownings, and numerous other celebrities, including Bayard Taylor and James T. Fields, and, possessed of great wealth, was the helpful and unostentatious benefactor of many of the more needy of his literary friends. His poetical works include: A Rhymed Plea for Tolerance (1833); Poems for the Most Part Occasional (1838); and A Day at Tivoli, with Other Verses (1849). He was twice married, and his second wife is the ‘Nea’ of some of his most graceful verses. He was widely known for his hospitality, his generosity, and his charities. Eighty legatees were mentioned in his will, which included various benevolent institutions and many of his friends.