Walter Harte

Walter Harte was an English poet, historian, and churchman born in 1709 and remembered for a varied literary life. He was associated with Oxford, served as vice-principal of St Mary Hall, and later became a canon of Windsor. His surviving bibliography shows just how wide his interests were, including poetry, religious writing, satire, history, and prose works.

Among his better-known books are Essays on Husbandry and The History of the Life of Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden. A Royal Collection Trust note on Essays on Husbandry says that after receiving church appointments in Windsor and Cornwall, he cultivated land near St Austell and St Blazey and drew on that experience, along with correspondence with other farmers, for the book. That practical streak gives his work an appealing mix of learning and lived observation.

Harte died in 1774. Though he is not a household name today, he remains an interesting figure for listeners who enjoy older nonfiction, reflective poetry, and the wide-ranging curiosity of 18th-century writers.