William Bennet was born on the 29th September, 1802, in the parish of
Glencairn, and county of Dumfries. He first wrote verses while
apprenticed to a mechanic in a neighbouring parish. In his nineteenth
year he published a volume of poems, which excited some attention, and
led to his connexion with the newspaper press. He became a regular
contributor to the _Dumfries Courier_, edited by the ingenious John
M'Diarmid; and in 1825 and the following year conducted the _Dumfries
Magazine_, in which appeared many interesting articles from his pen. In
December 1826, he became editor of the _Glasgow Free Press_, which
supported the liberal cause during the whole of the Reform Bill
struggle. Along with Sir Daniel Sandford, he afterwards withdrew from
the Whig party, and established the _Glasgow Constitutional_, the
editorship of which he resigned in 1836. In 1832-3, he published a
periodical, entitled, "Bennet's Glasgow Magazine." Continuing to write
verses, he afterwards published a poetical volume, with the title,
"Songs of Solitude." His other separate works are, "Pictures of Scottish
Scenes and Character," in three volumes; "Sketches of the Isle of Man;"
and "The Chief of Glen-Orchay," a poem in five cantos, illustrative of
Highland manners and mythology in the middle ages.
Mr Bennet, subsequent to leaving Glasgow, resided successively in
Ireland, and London. He afterwards lived several years in Galloway, and
has latterly fixed his abode at Greenmount, near Burntisland. He is
understood to be engaged in a new translation of the Scriptures.