ABSTRACT
A native of Barnsley, ornithologist and poet, Thomas Lister was ‘trained up’ in the pacifist and egalitarian principles of Quakerism by his ‘honest and revered parents’. He was educated at Ackworth school until the age of fourteen, then worked as a cart driver, composing many of his works whilst ‘pursuing his daily toils in the open air’ (The Rustic Wreath, p. viii). The local popularity of Lister’s ‘warblings wild’ brought about an introduction to Lord Morpeth of Castle Howard. Impressed by Lister’s character, Morpeth later nominated him for the office of Post-Master at Barnsley. For Lister, a man only too familiar with the hardships and insecurities of labouring life, this was preferment beyond his dreams and he responded with astonished gratitude. However, Lister refused to betray his Quaker beliefs by so doing and painfully relinquished his hopes.
