Bramber Press

Peter Thorogood

Peter Thorogood was educated at Brentwood School, Essex. He studied piano and composition at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Irish Academy of Music. After graduating in Modern Languages at Trinity College, Dublin, he taught English in Italy. His popular course on the History of English Literature, at the University of Milan, continued for several years and, on his return to England in 1958, he continued his series of lectures at the British Council in London, with spells as a visiting lecturer in Poland, Israel, Bulgaria and Germany. During this time, he divided his interests between teaching, writing poetry, composing music and researching the life and times of the Victorian poet and caricaturist, Thomas Hood.

In the late 1960's, Peter Thorogood was Radio Talks Critic for the BBC periodical, The Listener, and compile a radio series, English Funny Writing, for the BBC World Service. In the 1970's and 1980's, he published three collections of his own poetry, and delivered a number of papers on his researches into the life and work of Thomas Hood. He has given many recitals of music and poetry, including his own compositions, in and around London, but since 1984 he has devoted his energy to the restoration of St. Mary's, where the Music Room has proved to be the perfect setting for his successful series of concerts and recitals.