Henry Neele
poet (1798–1828)

Henry Neele (29 January 1798 – 7 February 1828) was an English poet and literary scholar. He was also a practising attorney in the West End of London.
Early life
Neele was the son of Samuel John Neele (1758–1824), a cartographer, engraver, and copperplate and printer, who had his business in the Strand, London. The family soon moved to Kentish Town, where he was brought up and educated. He had at least one brother, Josiah Neele (fl. 1826–45), who was to follow in his father's trade. At school and in later life, Neele acquired a good knowledge of French and some German and Italian, but little Latin or Greek.
Law
On leaving school, Neele was articled to an attorney, and after qualifying, practised in Great Blenheim Street (now Ramillies Street) in the West End of London. Barbara Hofland relates that he "enjoyed a respectable share of business in that profession, up to the time of his death; being remarkable for his great regularity in the dispatch of all concerns committed to his care, and for the soundness and comprehensiveness of his views in cases committed to his examination."
Popular contributor
Neele began publishing (anonymously) in the Monthly Magazine in 1814. His first volume, Odes and Other Poems, was published in 1817 at his father's expense, but attracted the attention of Dr Nathan Drake.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4321307. The first chronological checks are 1798, 1828, 1758 and 1824.
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This entry incorporates text from “Henry Neele” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.