Robert Seymour BRIDGES

1844 - 1930  (85 years)

• Name	Robert Seymour BRIDGES
  Born	23 Oct 1844
  Gender	Male
  Died	21 Apr 1930
  Person ID	I8395	Young Kent Ancestors
  Last Modified	1 May 2007

  
  

  Father	John Thomas BRIDGES,   b. 1805,   d. 10 May 1853, of St. Nicholas Court, Thanet, Kent, England  (Age 48 years)
  Mother	Harriett Elizabeth AFFLECK,   b. Abt 1807,   d. Oct 1897 (90 yrs)  (Age ~ 90 years)
  Married	23 Apr 1829
  Family ID	F2710	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Mary Monica WATERHOUSE
  Children	1. Sir Edward Ettingdene BRIDGES,   b. 4 Aug 18--, of Goodman's Furze, Headley, Epsom, Surrey, England   2. Elizabeth BRIDGES,   b. 5 Dec 1887   3. Margaret BRIDGES,   b. 10 Oct 1889,   d. 24 Apr 19--
  Last Modified	20 Mar 2022
  Family ID	F2715	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  O.M. (1929), M.A., M.B., hon. D. ----., hon. LL.D. St. Andrews, F.R.C.P., Poet Laureate 19--, educ. Eton and Corpus Christi Coll. Oxford. A poet noted for his technical mastery of prosody and for his sponsorship of the poetry of his friend Gerard Manley Hopkins. Born of a prosperous landed family, Bridges went to Eton College and then to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he met Hopkins. His edition of Hopkins' poetry that appeared in 1916 rescued it from obscurity. From 1869 until 1882 Bridges worked as a medical student and physician in London hospitals. In 1884 he married Mary Monica Waterhouse, and he spent the rest of his life in virtually unbroken domestic seclusion, first at Yattendon, Berkshire, then at Boar's Hill, devoting himself almost religiously to poetry, contemplation, and the study of prosody. Although he published several long poems and poetic dramas, his reputation rests upon the lyrics collected in Shorter Poems (1890, 1894). New Verse (1925) contains experiments using a metre based on syllables rather than accents. He used this form for his long philosophical poem The Testament of Beauty, published on his 85th birthday. Bridges was poet laureate from 1913 until his death.