Poets laureate of Britain

John Dryden (Dryden, John) 1668-89

Thomas Shadwell (Shadwell, Thomas) 1689-92

Nahum Tate (Tate, Nahum) 1692-1715

Nicholas Rowe (Rowe, Nicholas) 1715-18

Laurence Eusden (Eusden, Laurence) 1718-30

Colley Cibber (Cibber, Colley) 1730-57

William Whitehead (Whitehead, William) 1757-85

Thomas Warton (Warton, Thomas, the Younger) 1785-90

Henry James Pye (Pye, Henry James) 1790-1813

Robert Southey (Southey, Robert) 1813-43

William Wordsworth (Wordsworth, William) 1843-50

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron) 1850-92

Alfred Austin (Austin, Alfred) 1896-1913

Robert Bridges (Bridges, Robert) 1913-30

John Masefield (Masefield, John) 1930-67

Cecil Day-Lewis (Day-Lewis, C.) 1968-72

Sir John Betjeman (Betjeman, Sir John) 1972-84

Ted Hughes (Hughes, Ted) 1984-98

Andrew Motion (Motion, Andrew) 1999-