Life

Lewis was the son of Roger Lewis of Llanddewi Felffre, in the county of Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

, and was probably born in Wales. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

, matriculating in 1698 and obtaining his Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1702. He was undermaster at Westminster School

Westminster School

The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...

 (1726–1732). During this time, he started to publish poetry, beginning in 1726 with Miscellaneous Poems by Several Hands, mixing various styles of poetry from different London-based poets from Oxford and Cambridge. Some, unidentified, poems were by Lewis himself. The collection contained the final revision of John Dyer

John Dyer

John Dyer was a painter and Welsh poet turned clergyman of the Church of England who maintained an interest in his Welsh ancestry...

's Grongar Hill as well as the first draft of Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...

's Vital spark of heavenly flame (1712). Lewis and Pope were in contact thereafter, and Pope's support was acknowledged by Lewis in the introduction to Philip of Macedon, a tragedy by Lewis performed in May 1727. A second volume of poetry, by various people (including Lewis) was published in 1730. Lewis died at Low Leyton

Leyton

Leyton is an area of north-east London and part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, located north east of Charing Cross. It borders Walthamstow and Leytonstone; Stratford in Newham; and Homerton and Lower Clapton in the London Borough of Hackney....

 in Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

in April 1760, and was buried at Leyton church. His wife, Mary, died in 1774 and was buried with him.