William Somervile

William Somervile or Somerville (2 September 1675 – 19 July 1742) was an English poet.

The name Somervile is a corruption of Somerville, derived from Saint-Omer in Normandy.

The first of the Somervilles was Sir Gaulter de Somerville, who fought with William the Conqueror in England. He died at the end of the Eleventh Century and left three sons. William Somervile descended from the third son and was the last of the English Somerville house (a Scottish line continued). Their crest had inscribed on it, "The Woe Laird".

His family includes other famous figures in Scottish history. One of his relatives was named William de Somerville, who according to legend killed the last snake in Scotland. Philip of Whichnow, another relative, instituted the tradition of the Dunmow Flitch which is giving a gift of bacon to two people who have been married a year without having an argument. Philip's son Sir Thomas joined William Wallace to fight for the freedom of Scotland. James Somervile served with the French and Venetian service and when he returned home he held the rank of lieutenant-colonel.

Somervile was the eldest son of a country gentleman, and was born at Edstone, in the parish of Warren, Warwickshire in 1677. He was educated at Winchester College and at New College, Oxford, where he studied law. While in school he did not show any hint of great knowledge of literature or seem to have a knack for writing poetry. His love of poetry did not come until he was of middle age. He was a part of the Whig Party. After his father's death in 1705 he lived on his estate. He was known to be very hospitable and convivial. This however plunged him into debt, which carried a heavy burden and consequently put him into the habits that ultimately shortened his life. He was not someone one would expect to become a poet, he rather enjoyed sports including horseback riding and hunting.

While he lived on the estate left to him by his father in 1705. He devoted himself 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. While he wrote many types of poetry he never became very famous because of it. It is said that he "writes very well for a gentleman."

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