AV俱乐部

English professor Judith Thompson. (Bruce Bottomley Photo)

Who was John Thelwall?

Here鈥檚 a hint: Judith Thompson says there ought to be statues of him in any country that calls itself a democracy.

Who鈥檚 Judith Thompson?

If you don鈥檛 know, you will. Dr. Thompson is the AV俱乐部 English professor who鈥檚 spent the last four years Indiana Jonesing after Thelwall鈥檚 ghost鈥攁nd emerged with buried treasure beyond her wildest dreams.

But who was John Thelwall? A writer? Poet? Playwright and novelist? Doctor or scientist? Thelwall was all of the above鈥攂efore being blacklisted by the British monarchy for inciting revolution. In fact, John Thelwall was such a hothead that even his closest friends distanced themselves from the perceived troublemaker. That wouldn鈥檛 be so unusual, except that Thelwall鈥檚 鈥渃losest friends鈥� were Romantic figures William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Wordsworth and Coleridge are usually hailed as rebels in their own right, so if John Thelwall was too hot for them to handle, he was a radical.

鈥�(Thelwall) gave a speech and almost got nabbed by a press gang. He was really a hunted man鈥� he was thrown in jail,鈥� says Dr. Thompson, of Thelwall鈥檚 inflammatory public speeches. 鈥淭he British government was terrified that there was going to be a revolution.鈥�

Authorities during the Romantic period cracked down on dissenters, a move Dr. Thompson compares to America鈥檚 midcentury blacklisting of suspected communists. Thelwall was advocating the 鈥淩ights of Man,鈥� the vote, and freedom of speech, which made him 鈥減ublic enemy number one in Britain for a while.鈥�

John Thelwall and聽Llyswen Farm, the聽house in Wales where he lived.

In later life, Thelwall worked in 鈥渆locution.鈥� 鈥淗e became what we would call a speech therapist,鈥� explains Dr. Thompson. He was also a writer for much of his life but popular disapproval erased Thelwall鈥檚 legacy, and the hawk-eyed orator retains the dubious honour of being the poet time forgot.

John Thelwall and Judith Thompson share more than just initials. 鈥淚鈥檝e been working on him since when I came to Dal, 21 years ago,鈥� Dr. Thompson states. 鈥淚 got very frustrated with how little was known about him.鈥� The last biography of Thelwall was written in 1904 by Charles Cestre, with material gleaned from about six boxes of Thelwall鈥檚 manuscripts. Unfortunately, after the publication of Cestre鈥檚 biography, those six boxes vanished without a trace.

But it鈥檚 possible to track Thelwall鈥檚 footprints through history鈥攗p to a point. 鈥淐oleridge invited (Thelwall) to come stay with him,鈥� Dr. Thompson relates. Thelwall spent 10 days with Wordsworth and Coleridge in the countryside, making poetic and political plans during riverside walks, before 鈥淐oleridge got cold feet 鈥� which was pretty devastating for Thelwall.鈥� Thelwall left, relocating to the village of Llyswen in Wales, and 鈥渢hat鈥檚 the point at which the story gets cold.鈥�

Thelwall鈥檚 trail remained cold for two centuries, until 2004, when Dr. Thompson made 鈥渢wo amazing discoveries in the spaces of two weeks.鈥� First, she discovered Thelwall鈥檚 home in Llyswen鈥攁 place called Llyswen Farm.

鈥淚 found the farmhouse which he had lived in鈥� nobody knew that that was it. I followed what I called the village grapevine of research assistance.鈥� Dr. Thompson鈥檚 quest took her from Llyswen鈥檚 local bed-and-breakfast to a friendly vicar, then to a festival at a nearby school. Finally, the husband of a local acquaintance allowed Dr. Thompson to explore the grounds of a local farmhouse.

鈥淥n the grounds, I found undeniable evidence. Thelwall had written a letter, a rather charming letter really, about how he had retreated to this place鈥� he built a waterfall, an eight-foot waterfall, and he built a summer house.鈥� She pauses. 鈥淚 found the waterfall. I found the foundation of the summer house. Details, undeniable evidence.鈥� There was further evidence from Wordsworth in the form of a poem, The Excursion, which Dr. Thompson recognized as making reference to Llyswen Farm.

So how did Dr. Thompson celebrate her monumental discovery in the nooks and crannies of Llyswen? 鈥淚 went to the pub, and I told the bed-and-breakfast lady,鈥� Dr. Thompson laughs. 鈥淭hey were all really excited.鈥�

After discovering Thelwall鈥檚 waterfall, Judith Thompson decided to visit a local library in Derby before heading home. 鈥淚 only had less than two hours in Derby鈥� I was supposed to have lunch with this distant relation of Thelwall鈥檚.鈥� In the recesses of Derby鈥檚 local studies library, Dr. Thompson discovered a box of Thelwall鈥檚 鈥渏uvenilia.鈥�

As it turned out, the label wasn鈥檛 quite accurate. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 juvenilia. It was actually 1,000 pages of complete poems, some of them never before known.鈥� The writings in Thelwall鈥檚 Pandora box 鈥渨ent right from his earliest days and up to 1827, 1828.鈥� (He died a little later, in 1834.)

As is only appropriate to such a story, there is a whiff of scandal in the contents of Dr. Thompson鈥檚 discovery. 鈥淚n the manuscript, one of the things I noticed was really quite a lot of overheated, overwrought love poetry鈥� (Thelwall) wrote an awful lot of poems to the young women who were in the audience (at his speeches)... I call them fan club poems.鈥� When Thelwall鈥檚 wife died, 鈥淗e remarried very, very quickly鈥攗npleasantly, scandalously quickly. And he married one of his pupils.鈥� Thelwall鈥檚 bride was a 17-year-old actress. He was 52.

Not quite as exciting as Thelwall鈥檚 November-May romance was the excruciating amount of time Thompson and assistants spent in photocopying every page of Thelwall鈥檚 manuscript, microfilmed by the librarian back in Derby.

Now, she plans to publish Thelwall鈥檚 new material 鈥� verse that has waited 200 years to fall into the right hands. 鈥淚鈥檓 working on a (book of) collected poems of Thelwall鈥� there鈥檚 very little knowledge now of Thelwall as a poet.鈥�

John Thelwall has been Dr. Thompson鈥檚 lifelong obsession, and now 鈥渆diting this stuff and getting it out there has become kind of my full-time job.鈥� She is organizing a conference on Thelwall, to be held at AV俱乐部 next October, and 鈥渂efore I finish my career, I would like to take a stab at the biography.鈥�

Judith Thompson made an once-in-a-lifetime discovery鈥攖wice. But she isn鈥檛 finished, at least not if she wants to write a biography to rival Charles Cestre鈥檚. After all, Dr. Thompson reminds me鈥攅yes glinting mischievously鈥攕he still hasn鈥檛 found those six boxes.