War, an Heroic Poem, from the Taking of Minorca by the French to the Reduction of the Havannah. Cockings passionately expresses his support of British generals in a twenty-eight-page poem with erudite references to both biblical and Greek figures. His style attracts many readers; the poem would be published in four editions by 1765.


COCKINGS, GEORGE (d. 1802), writer, had a small place under the British government at Boston, America. Returning to England he obtained the post of registrar of the Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce in the Adelphi. After holding this for thirty years, he died on 6 Feb. 1802. His American experiences led him to write poems and dramas, which, in respect of construction and literary style, are of the feeblest order. Some of these obtained a measure of success, and went through three or four editions in America and England. His writings include 'The Conquest of Canada, or the Siege of Quebec,' an historical tragedy in five acts, 8vo, 1766, a contemptible production without either form or significance; 'Benevolence and Gratitude,' a poem, London, 1772, 8vo; 'War, an Heroic Poem, from the Taking of Minorca by the French to the Reduction of the Havannah,' 1760, 8vo, and 2 vols. in one, including some minor poems, 2nd edit. Boston, N.E., 1762, 4th edit. 1765, and again in 1785; 'Poems on several Subjects,' London, 1772, 8vo; 'Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce,' a poem, London, 1766, 8vo, and 1769, 8vo.

[Baker, Reed, and Jones's Biographia Dramatica; Allibone's Critical Dictionary of English Literature; Gilliland's Dramatic Mirror, 1808.]