Thomas Harman facts for kids

Thomas Harman was an English writer who lived around the year 1567. He is most famous for his important book about beggars, called A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors.

About Thomas Harman's Life

Thomas Harman came from a well-known family. His grandfather, Henry Harman, worked for King Henry VII. Around 1480, his grandfather bought large areas of land in Kent, England. Thomas's father, William Harman, added even more land to the family's property.

Thomas inherited all this land and lived in Crayford, Kent, starting in 1547. He was part of the "gentry," which meant he was a gentleman with land and a good social standing. We know this because his family had a special symbol, called a coat of arms, on their dishes.

Thomas Harman's Role as a Magistrate

Thomas Harman also worked as a local Commissioner of the Peace. This job meant he helped make sure laws were followed. One of his duties was to put into action new laws against begging that King Henry VIII had created.

Harman said he was a "poor gentleman" because he was often sick and had to stay at home in the countryside. To pass the time, he would talk to the beggars who came to his door. He asked them about their lives and how they managed to survive. He also traveled to London often to check if what they told him was true.

Because of this, he learned a lot about how thieves and beggars lived. Sometimes, he got very upset when he found out people were lying to him. When this happened, he would take away their begging permits and their money. He then gave the money to honest poor people in his area.

In 1554 and 1555, Harman was also part of a group called the Commission of Sewers for Kent. This group was in charge of managing the River Thames in his area.

His Famous Book: A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors

Before 1566, Thomas Harman wrote a detailed book about vagrants, who were people without a fixed home or job. He came to London to make sure his book was printed correctly. Even while his book was being printed, he kept learning more about beggars and their ways.

The first version of his book came out in 1566 or early 1567. No copies of this first edition are known to exist today. The book became very popular right away. Because of this, two printers, Henry Bynneman and Gerrard Dewes, were fined in 1567. They had tried to print and sell copies of Harman's book without permission.

Later Editions and Influence

Two copies of the second edition still exist, but they are a bit different from each other. One is in the Bodleian Library and is dated January 8, 1567–8. The other was owned by Alfred Henry Huth and is dated 1567. The Bodleian copy is likely the older one. Both were printed by William Griffith.

The full title of the later copy was A Caueat or Warening for commen cvrsetors Vvlgarely called Vagabones. In the book, Harman wrote a special message to his neighbor, Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury. He also included a message "to the reader."

The book then described 24 different types of thieves and tramps. It also listed the names of the most well-known people in these groups at that time. At the end, there was a list of "their pelting speche," which was a dictionary of their secret slang words. The book also had some pictures, like one of "an upright man, Nicolas Blunt."

Harman's book was much more detailed and new than other books on the topic. Other writers often copied from his work without giving him credit. For example, a book called The Groundworke of conny-catching (1592) copied most of Harman's book.

Later, writers like Thomas Dekker and Samuel Rowlands also used Harman's ideas in their own books. Harman's list of slang words became the basis for many later dictionaries of slang. His book was printed again in 1573 and has been reprinted several times since then.

Thomas Harman's Family Life

Thomas Harman married a woman named Anne. She was the daughter of Sir Edward Rogers. Their oldest daughter, Anne, passed away in 1574. She had married a man named Robert Draper, who was a cloth merchant from Crayford.