Ralph Broome (pamphleteer) facts for kids
Ralph Broome (born 1742, died 1805) was an English writer and poet. He was known for writing pamphlets and poems that made fun of people or ideas. He also worked with money in the stock market. Ralph Broome wrote several pieces that supported Warren Hastings. Hastings was a powerful figure who faced a special trial called an impeachment.
Ralph Broome's Life and Adventures
Ralph Broome was the third son of a man also named Ralph Broome. He grew up in a place called Bushton, Wiltshire. When he was young, he went to India. There, he learned several languages, including Persian. He became a judge advocate, which means he helped with legal matters in the army. He held the rank of captain in the Bengal Army.
While living in India, Ralph Broome had a daughter named Miriam. She was born around 1781. Miriam came back to England with him in about 1785. Later, in 1803, Miriam married Ralph Broome's nephew, who was also named Ralph Broome.
In 1790, Ralph Broome married Lucy Jeffreys from Brecknockshire, Wales. Sadly, Lucy passed away in 1796 in Bristol. Ralph then married Charlotte Ann Francis in 1798. Charlotte was a widow and her maiden name was Burney. They had one son together, named Ralph, who was born in 1801. People called him "Dolph."
This marriage caused some worry for Charlotte's family, including her father Charles Burney and sister Frances Burney. They were concerned about Ralph Broome's money situation. However, the family later became friends again. The Broomes moved to Bath, Somerset around 1803. Ralph Broome's health and mind quickly declined there. He passed away on February 24, 1805. His wife and daughters were with him until the end.
Ralph Broome's Writings
Ralph Broome wrote many pamphlets and poems. Even though he had not met Warren Hastings in India, he attended Hastings' special trial. Broome wrote several works to defend Hastings during these proceedings.
Here are some of Ralph Broome's published works:
- Letters of Simkin the Second to his dear brother in Wales, containing a humble description of the trial of Warren Hastings, Esq. (1788)
- Letters of Simpkin the Second, Poetic Recorder, of all the proceedings upon the Trial of Warren Hastings (1789)
- An Elucidation of the Articles of Impeachment preferred by the last Parliament against Warren Hastings, Esq., later Governor of Bengal (1790)
- Letters from Simkin the Second to his dear brother in Wales, for the year 1790; giving a full and circumstantial account of all the most material points both in the speeches of the Honourable Managers, and in the written and oral evidence brought... during the trial of Warren Hastings, etc. (1790)
- A Comparative Review of Mr. Hastings and Mr. Dundas, in War and Peace (1791)
- An Examination of the Expediency of continuing the Present Impeachment (1791)
- Observations on Mr. Paine's Pamphlet Entitled the Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance... (1796)
- Strictures on Mr. Burke's Two Letters, Addressed to a Member of the Present Parliament (1796)
- Letters from Simpkin the Second, to his brother Simon, in Wales: dedicated without permission, to the ancient and respectable family of the Grunters. [A satire in verse, on Edmund Burke].
