William Stewart Rose

William Stewart Rose (1775 - 1843) was a British poet, translator and Member of Parliament, who held various Government offices.

He was born the second son of George Rose of Cuffnells in Hampshire, also a senior civil servant and MP. His elder brother was the diplomat and MP George Henry Rose. After being educated at Eton College and St John's College, Cambridge, he entered Lincoln's Inn in 1796 to study law.

Rose was successively appointed Surveyor of Green-wax Monies (1797-1800), Clerk of Pleas at the Exchequer (1797-1837) and Reading Clerk to the House of Lords (1800–1824). He was also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch from 1796 to 1800, partnering his father.

He translated the romance of Amadis de Gaul (1803), Partenopex de Blois (1807), etc., and from 1823-31 was occupied with the principal work of his life, his translations from the Italian, including the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, in which he was encouraged by Sir Walter Scott, whose friend he was. He also produced a volume of poems, The Crusade of St. Louis (1810).

In later life he suffered from paralysis and died an imbecile in 1843. He had married a Venetian woman but had no children.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons.  

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