1697?-1743, English poet. The now discredited story of his illegitimate descent from a noble line and of his persecutions, which are set forth in a biography by Samuel Johnson, won him a reputation that his works scarcely merited. His output includes two poems, The Bastard (1728) and The Wanderer (1729), and two comedies. In 1727 he killed a man in a tavern brawl and was sentenced to death but later was pardoned. He died in poverty.
