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William Somervile




Somervile was the eldest son of a country gentleman, and was born at Edstone, Worcestershire . He was educated at Winchester College and at New College, Oxford . After his father's death in 1705 he lived on his estate, devoting himself especially to field sports, which supplied the subjects of his best-known poems. His publications were ''The Two Springs'' (1725), a fable; ''Occasional Poems ...'' (1727); ''The Chace'' ("The Chase") (1735); ''Hobbinol, or the Rural Games'' (1740), a burlesque poem describing the Cotswold Games ; and ''Field Sports'' (1742), a poem on hawking.

His ''Chase'' passed through many editions. It was illustrated by Thomas Bewick (1796), by Thomas Stothard (1800), and by Hugh Thomson (1896), with a preface by RF Sharp.


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There is also a Dr. William Somerville (1771-1860), inspector of the army medical board, second husband of Mary Somerville .