Procter, Bryan Waller (1787–1874)

English poet. He contributed to the Literary Gazette from 1815. Under the pseudonym of Barry Cornwall, he produced a tragedy, Mirandola, at Covent Garden 1821, and published several volumes of verse, including English Songs, and other Smaller Poems 1832. It is for his songs that he is best remembered.

Born in Leeds and educated at Harrow, he practised successfully as a solicitor in London. He met Charles Lamb (whose biography he wrote 1864) and Leigh Hunt, whose influence is felt in his writings; he also knew Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, and Algernon Swinburne.