Biography
Serjeant John Hoskins was an English poet, scholar of Greek, and politician.
Life
He was the son of John and Margery Hoskins born in Mownton-upon-Wye, Llanwarne, Herefordshire. His father, impressed by his memory and mental abilities, arranged for him to be taught Greek at the age of ten. He attended Westminster School for a year before going to Winchester College in 1579. From 1584 to 1588 he attended their sister foundation New College, Oxford, arriving alongside Henry Wotton. However he was expelled from the University before he became Regent master. The authorities did not appreciate his biting satire. He became a teacher in Ilchester Somerset, where he worked on a Greek lexicon which went as far as the letter M. However through a fortuitous meeting with Benedicta Moyle, he gained entrance to the Middle Temple to study for the bar.
He was elected to parliament for Hereford in 1603 and 1614. However whilst in 1614, in parliament he spoke his mind about the Sicilian Vespers and consequently was imprisoned for a year in the Tower of London alongside Sir Charles Cornmwallis. Subsequent to his release he was elected Lent Reader in 1619, and became a Judge in 1623.
He was an intimate of John Selden, Sir Walter Raleigh and Ben Jonson. He once fought a duel with Sir Benjamin Rudyard, but they subsequently became great friends. When he was a Serjeant-at-law and was once indicted for not keeping the pavement in front of his door in goodrepair. He successfully defended his case arguing that the charge did not specify how he was liable, whether he owned a property at that location, whether he lived there, or even whether he had a tenant who had legally assumed such responsibilities.
The poem Absence, Hear thou my Protestation (Printed anonymously in Francis Davison's A poetical rhapsody containing diverse sonnets, odes, [etc.] (V. S. for J. Baily, 1602)) was at one time attributed to John Donne. However Herbert Grierson has argued persuasively that it should be attributed to Hoskins.
He is noted for painting an image of the Trusty Servant as an emblem outside the kitchen of Winchester College in 1579. The emblem was accompanied by verse in both Latin and English providing a reading of the image. ..
