author

Thomas Miller

1807–1874

Raised in poverty and trained as a basket-maker, this popular 19th-century English writer turned hard experience into poems, novels, and vivid sketches of everyday life. His work was widely read for its warmth, plain speech, and close feeling for ordinary people.

5 Audiobooks

History of the Anglo-Saxons, from the Earliest Period to the Norman Conquest

History of the Anglo-Saxons, from the Earliest Period to the Norman Conquest

by Thomas Miller

Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present

Picturesque Sketches of London, Past and Present

by Thomas Miller

A Walk and a Drive.

A Walk and a Drive.

by Thomas Miller

The Sheep and Lamb

The Sheep and Lamb

by Thomas Miller

Summer Morning: A poem

Summer Morning: A poem

by Thomas Miller

About the author

Born in Gainsborough in 1807, he became known as "the basket-maker" because he was apprenticed to that trade when he was young. After a difficult childhood marked by poverty, he educated himself while working and gradually found readers for his poems and prose.

He went on to build a successful literary career, writing poems, novels, and sketches that often drew on working-class life and the streets, fairs, and neighborhoods he knew well. His writing was valued for being direct, humane, and accessible rather than polished for elite tastes.

He died in 1874. Reliable sources confirm his reputation as a poet and novelist, but I could not confirm a suitable portrait image from the available Wikipedia page images, so none is included here.