The compilers are grateful to the very many librarians and colleagues who have helped us to gather this information together. John Goodridge, the general editor and principal writer, would especially like to thank colleagues at Clifton Library, Nottingham Trent University, for help in tracking down information, Dr Bob Heyes for sharing many of his discoveries from bookseller’s catalogues and the world of antiquarian books, Dr Iain Rowley who compiled entries for six women poets during his internship at Nottingham Trent University, Summer 2005, and wrote sixteen further entries (including some major figures) in 2007, and Ned Newitt for his information on the Leicester Chartist poets. Florence Boos has very kindly shared with us her database of nineteenth-century working-class Scottish women poets, and her rich research in this field forms the backbone of many of the entries for them included here. Dawn Whatman has added new entries and further information on this topic, and Yann Lovelock has shared his knowledge of Yorkshire and especially Sheffield poets. Tim Burke did much to develop the database as an online resource during his time as a researcher at Nottingham Trent University, and wrote several entries including an important one for Keats, and his key essay on Robert Burns and the labouring-class tradition is cross-referenced in our short Burns entry. Dick Ellis strongly supported the development of the database during his time as Head of English at NTU, and fostered institutional support for the project; his successors Lynne Hapgood and Nahem Yousaf have been similarly positive and helpful. Katie Osborn and her colleagues at Creighton and Notre Dame Universities have moved the project forward tremendously, and Katie has strengthened and extended Welsh representation, among many other improvements. Professor Bridget Keegan enabled, oversaw and facilitated these developments, and Cole Crawford is currently engaged in taking them forward.
Thanks are due to Andrea Hanaray of New Zealand for supplying much information about her ancestor Jessie Russell; to Patrick Regan of the George Heath web page; to Mark Gregory for information on Francis ‘Frank the Poet’ MacNamara, to Barbara Bell for information on Robert Davidson and John Hoy, and to Michael Baron, Ronald Blythe, Anthony Cartwright, Lorna Clymer, Mary-Ann Constantine, the late Greg Crossan, David Fairer, Gordon Tait, Gary Harrison, Bob Heyes, Simon Kövesi, Claire Lamont, Tom Leonard, Rodney and Pauline Lines, John Lucas, Brian Maidment, Paddy O’Sullivan, David Radcliffe, Gordon Tait, Steve Van-Hagen, Sam Ward and Bob White; and to our academic advisors and contributors, listed above, for their generous assistance.