Kyrle, John (1673-1724)

English social reformer who devoted his life to rebuilding and improving conditions in the town of Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire, where his family had been settled for centuries.

Kyrle was born at Dymock in Gloucestershire and was educated at Ross Grammar School and Balliol College, Oxford. In recognition of his humanitarian efforts, he was praised by his contemporary Alexander Pope as ‘the Man of Ross’ in his third ‘Moral Epistle’ (1735). The Kyrle Society was formed in 1877 in memory of his work.