[1] He was editor of the New Edinburgh Review, and published articles promoting phrenology in the early 1820s;[6] it existed 1821 to 1823.[8] Poole joined the editorial staff of the Encyclopædia Edinensis under James Millar.[13] In the late 1830s he was a pioneer advocate of mental health reform,[14] and in 1838 he became superintendent of the Montrose Asylum, succeeding W. A. F. Browne.[3] Poole died in Coupar Angus on 18 February 1870 aged 88 at the house of his daughter, Mrs Kirkwood.[23] Their children included Samuel Wordsworth Poole, a physician and episcopal clergyman.