John Bancks (Q387372)

Overall: In his youth, Bancks was "saved from destitution by a timely legacy of ?10 from a distant relation" (DNB). While working in his own bookstall, Bancks was inspired to write The Weaver's Miscellany by the success of Stephen Duck's poem The Thresher' Labour and the patronage Duck received from Queen Caroline. His job as an assistant at a bookshop allowed him enough time to write poetry. His Miscellaneous Works in Verse and Prose enabled him to make a living writing as a profession. He published a number of biographies and some poems.