T. J. (Thomas John) Terrington

Thomas John Terrington was an English poet born in 1813 and buried in Kingston upon Hull after his death on December 14, 1864. Modern library and archive records preserve him chiefly through a small body of Victorian verse and educational writing.

His best-known surviving collection is Christmas at the Hall: The Hero's Grave; Night Musings, and Other Poems, originally published in London and Hull in 1853. In that volume, Terrington is described as the author of Welton Dale, and the book is affectionately dedicated to Samuel Wilderspin, founder of infant schools, as his son-in-law. Terrington also appears as co-author, with Wilderspin, of A Manual for the Religious and Moral Instruction of Young Children in the Nursery and Infant School, linking his work to early childhood education as well as poetry.

The preface to Christmas at the Hall gives a rare glimpse of his character. He presents himself as someone long drawn to poetry, but hesitant about publishing, and says Welton Dale had been written years earlier before finally being released. That mix of earnestness, modesty, and moral purpose fits the poems associated with his name, which often turn toward religion, rural scenery, reflection, and the comforts of home.