William Billington (poet)
William Billington (3 April 1825 – 3 January 1884) was an English poet from Blackburn, Lancashire. He was known as “The Blackburn Poet” and sometimes wrote in the local dialect.
He was born in Samlesbury, Lancashire, to Benedict and Ann Billington, who were poor hand-loom weavers. His father died in 1832, and several of his siblings died of tuberculosis before 1837. His mother supported the family by weaving. Billington learned to read and write at Catholic Sunday schools and mostly taught himself afterward. He was inspired by his uncle Robert Bolton’s songs and by the local poet Richard Dugdale, a lifelong friend.
In 1839 the family moved to Blackburn. Billington worked in the cotton mills in various jobs, including doffer, weaver, and taper. He married Elizabeth Walmsley on 24 June 1846; she died in 1857.
Billington wrote many pieces for newspapers, broadsheets, and pamphlets, traveling in the north and midlands to read and sell his poems. His understanding of working-class Lancashire speech proved useful during the Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861–65, when his rhymes were printed and sold widely. One broadsheet ballad, “Th’ Shurat Weyvur,” sold about 14,000 copies at the time.
He married Maria Fairbottom on 13 July 1867, but she left him and their young child. From 1875 he ran a public house in Blackburn, a beer shop on Bradshaw Street that became known as “Poet’s Corner.” It was a gathering place for local poets, including John Critchley Prince, where he enjoyed debating religion and politics.
William Billington died on 3 January 1884 at his home on Bradshaw Street, Blackburn.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 23:45 (CET).