Poet. He was born in Helpston, England. He was best known as the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet. His works include “Poems Descriptive of Rural Life and Scenery,” “The Village Minstrel and Other Poems,” “The Shepherd’s Calendar with Village Stories and Other Poems” and his best known book “The Rural Muse.” Today, children at the John Clare School, Helpston’s primary, parade through the village and place their ‘midsummer cushions’ around Clare’s gravestone, on his birthday, in honour of their most famous resident. In 1989, he was honoured with a plaque in ‘Poets’ Corner’, Westminster Abbey. There is also a memorial to him in the village of Helpston. (bio by: José L Bernabé Tronchoni)