Dictionary.net

An English poet; born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nov. 9, 1721; died in London, June 23, 1770. Studied at first theology, then medicine in Edinburgh and in Leyden, where he took his degree, 1744. Having practiced, not very successfully, at Northampton and later (1745-47) at Hampstead, he soon after, through the aid of a friend, became prosperous and eminent in London, and in 1761 was appointed physician to the queen. His literary fame rests on the "Pleasures of the Imagination", a didactic poem (1744, remodeled and enlarged 1757 and 1765).