Arthur Wilson (writer)
| Arthur Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Arthur Wilson bapt. 14 December 1595 Yarmouth, England |
| Died | October 1652 (aged 57) Felsted, England |
| Education | Trinity College, Oxford |
| Occupation | Dramatist, historian, gentleman-in-waiting, steward |
| Employer | Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick |
| Notable work | The History of Great Britain, being the Life and Reign of King James I |
| Spouse(s) | Susan Spitty |
Arthur Wilson (baptised 14 December 1595 – autumn 1652) was a seventeenth-century English playwright, historian, and poet. Though born a commoner, he worked professionally as a gentleman-in-waiting and steward to several of the most powerful Parliamentarians during the era leading up to the English Civil War. He is remembered today as a minor playwright who wrote several successful plays for London's Blackfriars Theatre as well as the author of The History of Great Britain, being the Life and Reign of King James I, a valuable nonfiction work that documents the anti-Stuartism prevalent in the late Caroline era.
Wilson was born in Yarmouth, England, the son of John Wilson and his wife Suzan, according to the baptismal register, but of Richard Wilson, according to a later entry in the matriculation register at Trinity College, Oxford, where he later attended school. In the 1620–25 period he served as secretary to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and accompanied the Earl on his military campaigns on the Continent. Despite getting on well with Essex for fifteen years, though, WIlson was dismissed when the earl's second wife took up against him. Upon his release, Wilson received a monthly pension from Essex and the opportunity for a formal education. At the age of 35, Wilson entered Oxford University (1631–33) where he studied first medicine and then religion for the next two years. Dismayed by the corruption that ran rampant in the clergy, however, he left the school and later entered the service of Essex's cousin, Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick, as a steward. Wilson returned to Essex's service for the English Civil War. Wilson had a reputation as an adventurer; his autobiography, Observations of God's Providence, in the Tract of my Life, records some of his adventures, like his 1642 rescue of the Countess Rivers from anti-Catholic rioters.
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