5 June 2012

Thomas Fuller and John Dryden in Northampton and Aldwincle, Northamptonshire

Northampton Public Library in Abington Street, by Herbert Norman in 1910, bears the statue of Northamptonshire son John Dryden.

There is also a statue of Dryden on Northampton's Guildhall, but then there is also a statue of another Northampton son on the facade of Northampton Public Library:

Thomas Fuller (1608–61), like Dryden, was born in the village of Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire. He was the son of the rector of St Peter's, and went on to be the rector of Broadwinsor, Dorset, and an author later admired by Charles Lamb and Coleridge. His writing was noted for its jokes and puns, and Leslie Stephens remarked on his 'fantastic caprices'. He is remembered most for Worthies of England, published the year after his death.

The tower window in St Peter's, Aldwincle, is dedicated to Fuller:

'In memory of Thomas Fuller, D. D. Church historian: he was born and baptized in this parish A. D. 1608. A scribe instructed unto the kingdom of heaven: Matt xiii: 52.'

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John Dryden, Aldwincle and Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire

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