Francis Joseph Thompson was an English poet and Catholic mystic. At the behest of his father, a doctor, he entered medical school at the age of 18, but at 26 left home to pursue his talent as a writer and poet. He spent three years on the streets of London, supporting himself with menial labour, becoming addicted to opium which he took to relieve a nervous problem.
Thompson in 1877
Memorial plaque to Thompson, Winckley Street, Preston
Inscription on memorial plaque
Alice Christiana Gertrude Meynell was a British writer, editor, critic, and suffragist, now remembered mainly as a poet. She was considered for the position of Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom twice, first in 1892 on the death of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and later in 1913 on the death of Alfred Austin, but was never appointed to the position.
Meynell in 1912
47 Palace Court
Meynell by John Singer Sargent, pencil, 1894
Meynell, unknown date