Askham, John, 1825-1894

John Askham was an English working-class poet who published five volumes of poetry. He was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, the youngest child of a shoemaker, and attended school for about one year. Before he was ten, his family put him to work in the shoemaking trade. Subsequently he set up his own business, later becoming the librarian of the newly formed Literary Institute at Wellingborough.
In 1871, Askham was elected a member of the first town school board. Three years after, he became school attendance officer and sanitary inspector of the local board of health. Despite his heavy workload, Askham educated himself and started writing poetry. He composed his first verses at the age of twenty-five, and later contributed poems to local newspapers. The fidelity of his nature poetry was remarkable considering that he had few opportunities to enjoy country life. In later years Askham was disabled by paralysis and died in 1894.