O'Brien, and secondly in 1841 to Susan, daughter of Sir John Kennaway. He died at Romsey on 24 Feb. 1851. His published works were:
- 'A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public Worship' (a compilation which includes compositions of his own), 1810.
- 'Arvendel, or Sketches in Italy and Switzerland,' 1813.
- 'Fifty Sermons for the Use of Families,' 1826, 1827.
- 'A Brief Inquiry into the Prospects of the Church of Christ,' 1828.
- 'Fifty Sermons preached at Romsey.' Preface by Bishop S. Wilberforce, 1853.
[Debrett's Genealogical Peerage, 1844, art. Gainsborough, Earl of;' Romilly's Graduati Cantabrigienses, 1856, p. 279; Foster's Index Ecclesiasticus, 1890, p. 130; preface to Sermons preached at Romsey; Julian's Dict. of Hymnology, 1892, p. 809.]
NOEL, RODEN BERKELEY WRIOTHESLEY (1834–1894), poet, born on 27 Aug. 1834, was the fourth son of Charles Noel, lord Barham, who was created in 1841 first Earl of Gainsborough. His mother Frances, second daughter of Robert Jocelyn, third earl of Roden, was his father's fourth wife. Noel graduated M.A. from Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1858. In 1863 he married, and in the same year issued his first volume of verse, ' Behind the Veil, and other Poems,' London, 8vo. His next book, ' Beatrice, and other Poems,' 1868, 8vo, in which the influence of Shelley was strongly marked, raised higher expectations. Like its successors, it was distinguished by high purpose and refined feeling; like them also, it lacked self-restraint, compression, form. Among his later volumes the want of inspiration and of melody is least felt in his pathetic 'Little Child's Monument,' 1881. The ablest of his critical writings was his sympathetic, if somewhat capricious, 'Essays upon Poetry and Poets,' London, 1886, 8vo, including papers on Chatterton, Byron, Shelley, Wordsworth, Keats, Hugo, Tennyson, and Walt Whitman. A selection from his poems, with a prefatory notice by his friend, Mr. Robert Buchanan, was issued in the series known as the 'Canterbury Poets' in 1892. From 1867 to 1871 Noel performed the duties of a groom of the privy chamber to Queen Victoria. He died very suddenly at Mainz on 26 May 1894. By his wife Alice, daughter of Paul de Broe, he left a son, Conrad Le Despencer Roden, and a daughter, Frances.
His writings, besides those mentioned, include:
- 'The Red Flag and other Poems,' 1872, 8vo.
- 'Livingstone in Africa: a Poem,' 1874, 16mo.
- 'The House of Ravensburg: a Drama,' in five acts and in verse, 1877.
- 'A Philosophy of Immortality,' 1882.
- 'Songs of the Heights and Deeps,' 1885, 8vo.
- 'A Modern Faust and other Poems,' 1888, 8vo.
- 'Life of Lord Byron' (Great Writers' Series), 1890, 8vo.
- 'Poor People's Christmas: a Poem,' 1890.
He also edited a 'Selection from the Poems of Edmund Spenser,' 1887, 8vo, and the 'Plays of Thomas Otway' for the Mermaid Series, 1888, 8vo.
[Art. by J. A. Symonds in Miles's Poets of the Nineteenth Century; Times, 28 May 1894; Athenaeum, Academy, and Saturday Review, 2 June 1894; Spectator, lix. 755; Noel's works in the Brit. Mus. Library.]
NOEL, THOMAS (1799–1861), poet, eldest son of the Rev. Thomas Noel, was born at Kirkby-Mallory on 11 May 1799. His father, who had been presented to the livings of Kirkby-Mallory and Elmsthorpe, both in Leicestershire, by his kinsman Thomas Noel, viscount Wentworth, in 1798, died at Plymouth on 22 Aug. 1854, at the age of seventy-nine. The son, who graduated B. A. from Merton College, Oxford, in 1824, issued in 1833 a series of stanzas upon proverbs and scriptural texts, entitled 'The Cottage Muse,' London (printed at Maidenhead), 8vo; and in 1841 'Village Verse' and 'Rymes and Roundelayes,' London, 8vo. The latter volume includes a version of the 'Rattower Legend,' the 'Poor Voter's Song,' the once well-known 'Pauper's Drive,' often wrongly attributed to Thomas Hood, and pretty verses on the scenery of the Thames. Noel lived for many years in great seclusion at Boyne Hill, near Maidenhead; but in the autumn of 1858 he went to live at Brighton, where he died on 16 May 1861. Miss Mitford corresponded with him frequently, although they never met. Among other friends were Thomas Vardon, the librarian of the House of Commons, and Lady Byron, the wife of the poet, who was a distant connection. By his wife Emily, youngest daughter of Captain Halliday of Ham Lodge, Twickenham, Noel left two children.
The 'Pauper's Drive' and 'A Thames Voyage' are quoted in extenso and justly praised by Miss Mitford in her 'Recollections of a Literary Life.' The former was set to music by Mr. Henry Russell in 1839. Noel also wrote the words of the familiar song 'Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep.'
[Foster's Alumni Oxon. 1715-1886; James Payn's Literary Recollections, pp. 87-92; Miss Mitford's Recollections of a Literary Life, 1 859, p.29; Gent. Mag 1854,i.215; Daily Telegraph, 30 June 1894; Notes and Queries, 1st ser. x. 285, 350, 453, 7th ser. xii. 486, 8th ser. i. 153, vi. 52, 150; private information.]
