Thomas Deloney
Encyclopedia
Thomas Deloney was an English novelist and ballad
ist.
He appears to have worked as a silk-weaver in Norwich, but was in London by 1586, and in the course of the next ten years is known to have written about fifty ballads, some of which got him into trouble, and caused him to keep a low profile for a time. His more important work as a novelist, in which he ranks with Robert Greene
and Thomas Nashe
, was not noted until much later. He appears to have turned to this genre to try to keep out of trouble. Less under the influence of John Lyly
and other preceding writers than Greene, he is more natural, simple, and direct, and writes of middle-class citizens and tradesmen with light humour. Of his novels, Thomas of Reading is in honour of clothiers, Jack of Newbury
celebrates weaving, and The Gentle Craft is dedicated to the praise of shoemakers. He "dy'd poorely," but was "honestly buried."
There is evidence to suggest that his son travelled to the Virginia colony. His descendants then spread into Alabama, (Schaal & Mineral Springs)Arkansas, Texas,Louisiana and Tennessee.
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
ist.
He appears to have worked as a silk-weaver in Norwich, but was in London by 1586, and in the course of the next ten years is known to have written about fifty ballads, some of which got him into trouble, and caused him to keep a low profile for a time. His more important work as a novelist, in which he ranks with Robert Greene
Robert Greene (16th century)
Robert Greene was an English author best known for a posthumous pamphlet attributed to him, Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit, widely believed to contain a polemic attack on William Shakespeare. He was born in Norwich and attended Cambridge University, receiving a B.A. in 1580, and an M.A...
and Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe
Thomas Nashe was an English Elizabethan pamphleteer, playwright, poet and satirist. He was the son of the minister William Nashe and his wife Margaret .-Early life:...
, was not noted until much later. He appears to have turned to this genre to try to keep out of trouble. Less under the influence of John Lyly
John Lyly
John Lyly was an English writer, best known for his books Euphues,The Anatomy of Wit and Euphues and His England. Lyly's linguistic style, originating in his first books, is known as Euphuism.-Biography:John Lyly was born in Kent, England, in 1553/1554...
and other preceding writers than Greene, he is more natural, simple, and direct, and writes of middle-class citizens and tradesmen with light humour. Of his novels, Thomas of Reading is in honour of clothiers, Jack of Newbury
Jack O'Newbury
Jack O'Newbury was the much-used nickname of John Winchcombe, otherwise John Smallwood, one of the richest and most influential English cloth merchants of the late 15th and early 16th century...
celebrates weaving, and The Gentle Craft is dedicated to the praise of shoemakers. He "dy'd poorely," but was "honestly buried."
There is evidence to suggest that his son travelled to the Virginia colony. His descendants then spread into Alabama, (Schaal & Mineral Springs)Arkansas, Texas,Louisiana and Tennessee.