PRAED, WINTHROP MACKWORTH

born July 26, 1802, London, Eng. died July 15, 1839, London English writer and politician remembered for his humorous verse. After a brilliant career at Eton College and at the University of Cambridge, Praed entered Parliament in 1830 as a Tory. In 1834 he was appointed secretary to the Board of Control, and in 1838 he became deputy high steward of Cambridge. Expectations of a great political future were frustrated by his death at age 37 from tuberculosis. Praed engaged in much miscellaneous journalism, but he is best remembered as a writer of witty and ironic light verse in such pieces as "The Vicar" and "Good Night to the Season." He showed a talent for grim humour, as in "The Red Fisherman"; wrote urbane, scissor-sharp verse epistles; and composed political squibs, such as "Stanzas on Seeing the Speaker Asleep in His Chair." Praed excelled in blending humour, sentiment, and social satire, though his reputation has declined.