ABSTRACT
Almost nothing is known of the 'unlettered bard' who published his single, slim collection of poems in 1781. No trace can be found in the records of the local gentry who patronised him, and he appears, unusually, not to have had verse published in any of the newspapers printed in Chester or the surrounding towns. Some dictionaries of literary pseudonyms suggest that the author is William Hawkins, the theologian. Hawkins did indeed publish a volume tided Poems On Various Subjects in 1781, but it was published at London, and bears no resemblance to that which appeared at Chester. Hawkins had no apparent Chester contacts, and the 'Unlettered Bard' is in any case a rather undistinguished theological thinker.
