Thomas Harman
Thomas Harman (fl. 1567) was an English writer best known for his seminal work on beggars, A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors.
Life
He was the grandson of Henry Harman, clerk of the crown under
Henry VIII.[2]
He writes that he was 'a poore gentleman,' detained in the country by ill-health. He found some recreation in questioning the vagrants who begged at his door as to their modes of life and paid frequent visits to London with the object of corroborating his information. He thus acquired a unique knowledge of the habits of thieves and beggars. Occasionally, his indignation was so roused by the deception practised by those whom he interrogated at his own door that he took their licenses from them and confiscated their money, distributing it among the honest poor of his neighbourhood.
In 1554 and 1555, Harman was appointed to the Commission of Sewers for Kent, which was responsible for the River Thames from Ravensbourne to Gravesend bridge.[3]
A Caveat or Warning for Common Cursitors
Before 1566, Harman had composed an elaborate treatise on
Jack Hall), 1708). Another edition of Harman's Caueat appeared in 1573, and this was reprinted by Machell Stace in 1814. A carefully collated edition of the second edition was edited by Dr. Frederick Furnival and Edward Viles for the Early English Text Society
in 1869 and re-issued by the New Shakspeare Society in 1880.
Personal life
Harman married Anne, daughter of
merchant taylor Robert Draper of Crayford.[5]
References
- ISBN 9780870237188.
- ISBN 9780199398140.
- ^ ISBN 9780472025169.
- ^ Early English Text Society (1869). "Preface". Early English Text Society Extra Series. IX. London: N. Trubner &Co.: viii.
- ^ "Facets of Froyle website articles on the Draper family". Retrieved 27 February 2018.
- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Harman, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
External links
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