William Preston (poet)


William Preston was an Irish poet, playwright and essayist.

Life

Born in the parish of St. Michan's, Dublin, he was admitted a pensioner at Trinity College Dublin in 1766. He graduated B.A. in 1770, and M.A. in 1773, studied in the Middle Temple, and was called to the Irish bar in 1777. At one point he was Commissioner of Appeals.
Preston assisted in the formation of the Royal Irish Academy, and was elected its first secretary in 1786, a post he held during the rest of his life. He also helped to found the Dublin Library Society, and was a contributor to its Transactions.
Preston, who was a member of the Monks of the Screw, died on 2 February 1807. He was buried in St. Thomas's churchyard, Dublin.

Works

Preston wrote occasional poetry for periodicals—including The Press, the organ of the United Irishmen, and the Sentimental and Masonic Magazine, 1794—and he contributed to Pranceriana a collection of satirical pieces on John Hely-Hutchinson, provost of Trinity College, and to Joshua Edkins's collection of poems.
His main success was his tragedy Democratic Rage, based on incidents in the French Revolution. It was produced at Dublin in 1793, and ran through three editions in as many weeks. Other works were: