Crabbe, George 1754-1832
English poet

Born in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, he had irregular schooling, but after a nine-month course in London, he set up as a surgeon in Aldeburgh. Having already published Inebriety, a Poem in 1775 and The Candidate, he ventured into the literary world in London in 1780, but lived in poverty, until, as the guest of Edmund Burke at Beaconsfield, he met the noted men of the day, published The Library (1781), and patronage followed. He was ordained in 1782 and the next year was established in the Duke of Rutland's seat at Belvoir. In 1783 The Village, a harshly realistic poem about village life sponsored by Burke and Dr Johnson, brought him fame, and he wrote nothing for 24 years. His narrative poems include The Parish Register (1807); The Borough (1810), a collection of 24 tales in letter form (which were later to form the basis of Benjamin Britten's opera Peter Grimes); Tales (1812); and Tales of the Hall (1819).

Bibliography: T E Krebbel, Life of George Crabbe (1972)