John Suckling

Sir John Suckling, (February 10, 1609 - June 1, 1642) was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gayety, wit, and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet, and the supposed inventor of the card game Cribbage. He is best known by his poem "Ballad Upon a Wedding". He was born at Whitton, in the parish of Twickenham, Middlesex, and baptized there on February 10, 1609. His father, Sir William Suckling, was Secret... more

Sir John Suckling, (February 10, 1609 - June 1, 1642) was an English poet and one prominent figure among those renowned for careless gayety, wit, and all the accomplishments of a Cavalier poet, and the supposed inventor of the card game Cribbage. He is best known by his poem "Ballad Upon a Wedding". He was born at Whitton, in the parish of Twickenham, Middlesex, and baptized there on February 10, 1609. His father, Sir William Suckling, was Secretary of State under James I and Comptroller of the Household of Charles I, and his mother was Elizabeth Cranfield, sister of Sir Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex. The poet inherited his father's estate at the age of eighteen. He went to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1623, and was enrolled at Gray's Inn in 1627. He was intimate with Thomas Carew, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Nabbes and especially with John Hales and Sir William Davenant, who later furnished John Aubrey with information about his friend. In 1628 he left London to travel in... less