Charles Churchill

Charles Churchill (1732–1764) was an English satirical poet and Anglican clergyman. Educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, he was ordained and served as a curate and later vicar of St John the Baptist, Westminster. Churchill rose to fame in 1761 with *The Rosciad*, a sharp verse attack on contemporary actors and theatrical taste, and followed it with a rapid series of political and social satires, including *The Ghost*. Associated with the radical politician John Wilkes, he became a prominent voice in mid‑Georgian literary controversy. Churchill died in 1764 while travelling in France and was buried at Dover.