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Britain Unlimited covers
250 Great British people and what made them famous
Who was Daniel Defoe?
Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
1660, in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate,
London, England.
Family Background:
Son of a tallow Chandler and Butcher of Flemish
descent, James Foe.
Education:
Firstly at Dorking then at Morton's Academy at
Newington Green under the Reverend Charles Morton, to become a Presbyterian
Minister,
Chronology/Biography of Daniel Defoe:
1666: Witnessed
the Great Fire of London as a young boy.
1671: Studied to
become a Presbyterian Minister.
1682: Trades as
a merchant in the hosiery business.
1684: Receives a
dowry on his wedding to Mary Tuffley although the money is insufficient
to keep him from bankruptcy and he is jailed for debt.
1685: Supports the
Duke of Monmouth's Rebellion. Now deals in tobacco and wine and
consequently travels to Spain, Holland, Italy and France.
1688: Becomes a
Supporter of William of Orange during the "Glorious Revolution."
1692: Owes £17,000
and becomes bankrupt. Agrees to pay his creditors.
1697: Works as an
Agent for King William 111 in Scotland and England.
1702: His ironic
tract "the Shortest Way with Dissenters misfires and he is
pilloried and then flung in Newgate Prison but is later released
after a plea from the Tory Minister Robert Harley. He continued
as a secret agent for the Government and wrote over 500 pamphlets
on politics, crime, geography, marriage, religion,the supernatural
and psychology.
1704: Begins producing
the newspaper "The Review" which is published three times
a week. This is to continue for the next ten years with Defoe as
the only editor.
1705: Works for
Robert Harley as an agent and promotes the cause of Anglo-Scottish
union.
Plaque at Gateshead where Defoe lived between 1706-1710
(© Anthony Blagg)
1713: Arrested two
times for debt and for publishing seditious political pamphlets.
1719: Publication
of his first novel "Robinson Crusoe" which is successful
although later sequels fail.
1725: After success
of his novels "Moll Flanders" etc he writes even more
political and moralising tracts.
Written Works:
- 1688:
"A letter to a Dissenter from his
friend at the Hague". (political tract)
- 1697: "Essays
upon Projects".
- 1701:"A
True Born Englishman".
- 1702:"The
Shortest Way with Dissenters". (ironic tract).
- 1703:"A
Hymn to the Pillory".
- 1706:"The
Apparition of Mrs Veal". "Jure Divino".
- 1709:
"The History of the Union of Great Britain".
- 1715:"The
Family Instructor".
- 1719:"Robinson
Crusoe". "Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe".
- 1720:
"Adventures of Captain Singleton". "Memoirs
of a Cavalier".
- 1722:"The
History of Colonel Jack". "Journal of the Plague Year".
"Moll Flanders".
- 1724:"The
Fortunate Mistress or a History of the Life of the Lady Roxana".
"A Tour through the Whole Island of Great Britain".
- 1727:
"The History and Reality of Apparitions". "A System
of Magic".
- 1728:
"Captain Carleton".
Marriage:
1st January 1684 to Mary Tuffley.
Date and Place of Death:
24th April 1731, At his lodgings in Ropemaker's
Alley, Moorefields, London.
Age at Death:
71.
Site of Grave:
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, City Road,
Finsbury, London, England.
Daniel Defoe's Grave Memorial in
Bunhill FIelds with a close up of the inscription which states that
it was erected by public subscription amongst the boys and girls
of England in 1870
(© Anthony Blagg)
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
Bunhill Fields, City Road, Finsbury, London.
GATESHEAD:
Tyne Bridge area.
Tyne Bridge seen from the Sage, Gateshead.
Much altered River scene since Defoe's day.
(© Anthony Blagg)
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