POET LAUREATE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

 

POET LAUREATE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

The British Poet Laureate is an honorary position appointed by the monarch of the United Kingdom, currently on the advice of the prime minister. The role does not entail any specific duties, but there is an expectation that the holder will write verse for significant national occasions.

The origins of the laureateship date back to 1616 when a pension was provided to Ben Jonson, but the first official holder of the position was John Dryden, appointed in 1668 by Charles II.

On the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who held the post between November 1850 and October 1892, there was a break of four years as a mark of respect. Four poets, Thomas Gray, Philip Larkin, Samuel Rogers and Walter Scott, turned down the laureateship.

Since 1999, the position is for a term of ten years.

Poet laureate	Dates of laureateship	Appointed by	Tenure (years)	Remarks
John Dryden (1631–1700)	13 April 1668 – January 1688	Charles II	20	First poet laureaute, Annus Mirabilis(1667),
Thomas Shadwell (1640–1692)	9 Mar1689 – 20 Nov1692	William III & Mary II	3
Nahum Tate (1652–1715)	23 Dec1692 – 30 Jul1715		23
Nicholas Rowe (1674–1718)	1 August 1715 – 6 December 1718	George I	3
Laurence Eusden (1688–1730)	10 December 1718 – 27 September 1730		12
Colley Cibber (1671–1757)	3 December 1730 – 12 December 1757	George II	27
William Whitehead (1715–1785)	19 December 1757– 14 April 1785		27
Thomas Warton (1728–1790)	20 April 1785 – 21 May 1790	George III	5
Henry James Pye 1745–1813	28 July 1790 – 11 August 1813		23
Robert Southey (1774–1843)	12 Aug1813 – 21 Mar1843		30
William Wordsworth (1770–1850)	6 Apr1843 – 23 Apr1850	Victoria	7
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)	19 Nov1850 – 6 Oct1892		42	"Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
Alfred Austin (1835–1913)	1 Jan1896 – 2 Jun1913		17
Robert Bridges (1844–1930)	25 Jul1913 – 21 Apr1930	George V	17
John Masefield (1878–1967)	9 May1930 – 12 May1967		37
Cecil Day-Lewis (1904–1972)	2 Jan1968 – 22 May1972	Elizabeth II	4
John Betjeman (1906–1984)	20 Oct1972 – 19 May1984		12
Ted Hughes (1930–1998)	28 Dec1984 – 28 Oct1998		14
Andrew Motion (1952–      )	19 May1999 – 1 May2009		10
Carol Ann Duffy (1955–      )	1 May2009 – 10 May2019		10	first Scot, first female
Simon Armitage (1963–     )	10 May 2019 – present		4