Thomas Bedingfeld (18 February 1760 – 5 November 1789), poet, second son of Edward Bedingfeld, Esquire, of York, and Mary, daughter of Sir John Swinburne, of Capheaton, Northumberland, was born at York on 18 February 1760, and educated at the University of Liège. In 1780 he was placed in the office of Mr. John Davidson, of Newcastle upon Tyne, with a view to the study of conveyancing. There he became acquainted with George Pickering and James Ellis, who, together with Mr. Davidson's sons, formed a literary fraternity not very common in a lawyer's office.