Who was Henry Fielding?
Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
22nd April 1707, Sharpham Park, Somerset, England.
Family Background:
By tradition the family could be traced back
to the Habsburgs. Father, Colonel Edward Fielding had served under
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. His mother was the daughter
of a judge and inherited substantial property.
Education:
Eton College.
Chronology/Biography of Henry Fielding:
1718: Death of his
mother.
1719: Meets William
Pitt at Eton College.
1727: Publication
of Fielding's first literary works.
1728: Studies at
classics and law at Leiden University in Holland. "Love in
Several Masques" is performed for the first time at the Drury
Lane Theatre, London.
1729: Returns to
England short of money.
1730: "Tom Thumb"
is performed at the New Theatre in Haymarket.
1732: His first prose
essay “The Benefit of Laughing” is published anonymously
in Mist's Weekly Journal. He often wrote for the Tory periodicals
under a pseudonym especially "Captain Hercules Vinegar".
1737: Last performance
of a play by Fielding at the Haymarket theatre "The ENd of
an Era". He is admitted to the Middle Temple to prepare to
become a Barrister. The Theatrical Licensing Act was passed and
some attribute this to the effect of Fielding's satires. He retired
from the theatre to study law.
1739: Publication
of the periodical "The Champion " with essays by Fielding.
1741: Fielding is
placed under arrest for debts. Death of his father.
1742: "The History
of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews and of His Friend Mr. Abraham
Adams" is first published. It is felt to be his first serious
novel. First performance of "Miss Lucy in Town at the Drury
Lane Theatre.
1745: Contributes
to the anti Jacobite journal "The True Patriot"
1746: Fielding appointed
as High Steward of the New Forest by the Duke of Bedford. "the
True Patriot" ceases publication after Bonnie
Prince Charlie is defeated at the Battle of Culloden.
1747: Begins publication
of the periodical "The Jacobite's Journal".
1748: He is appointed
as a magistrate at Bow Street, Covent Garden.
1749: "The History
of Tom Jones"is published and goes on to sell 10,000 copies
in its first year. Becomes Chairman of the Westminster Sessions
ands make suggestions on how to improve policing.
1750: Fielding organises
the "Bow Street Runners" who become the first modern police
force. Opens the Universal Register Office.
1751: Overseas the
trial of James Field, a notorious criminal and sentenced him to
hang. Going increasingly blind Fielding was known as "the Blind
Beak of Bow Street" by the criminal classes.
1752: Publication
of the last edition of "The Covent Garden Journal which he
had started under the pseudonym of "Sir Alexander Drawcansir,
Knt. Censor of Great Britain" .
1754: Leaves London
for Lisbon in June in search of a cure for his ill health. He was
suffering from asthma and gout and needed crutches to get about.
Written Works:
- 1728:
“Love in Several Masques”.
- 1730:
“The Author's Farce”. “Tom Thumb”. "The Temple Beau"."Rape
upon Rape: or The Justice Caught in His Own Trap"
- 1731: "The
Welsh Opera: or The Grey Mare the Better Horse"
- 1732:
“The Modern Husband”. "The Lottery". “The Benefit
of Laughing” ~(Prose essay)
- 1733: “The
Miser, taken from Plautus and Moliere”. "Deborah: or A Wife
for You All" (a ballad opera)
- 1734: "The
Author’s Farce". "Don Quixote in England".
- 1735: "An
Old Man Taught Wisdom: or The Virgin Unmask’d". "
The Universal Gallant"
- 1736: “Pasquin”.
"Tumble Down Dick".
"Lillo’s Fatal Curiosity"
- 1737:
"Eurydice: or the Devil Henpeck’d", " The
Historical Register for the Year 1736", "The end of
an Era"
- 1740:
"The Veroniad"
- 1741:
“Shamela or An Apology for the Life of Mrs.Shamela Andrews”. (A
parody of Pamela), "The Opposition: A Vision"
- 1742: “Joseph
Andrews”. "A Full Vindication of the Duchess Dowager of Marlborough",
"the God of Riches"
- 1743:
“Miscellanies”. "Some Papers Proper to be Read before the
Royal Society Concerning the Terrestrial Chrysipus, Golden-Foot
or Guniea. Collected by Petrus Gualterus" (Satire of the
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society). "The Wedding
Day"
- 1745: "A
Serious Address to the People of Great Britain on the possible
dangers of the Jacobite Rebellion", "A Dialogue between
the Devil, the Pope, and the Pretender"
- 1746: "The
Female Husband"
- 1747: "Ovid’s
Art of Love Paraphrased and Adapted to the Present Times"
- 1749:
“The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling”. (Novel) "Charge
delivered to the Grand Jury"
- 1750:
“The Intriguing Chambermaid”.
- 1751:
“Amelia, An Enquiry into the Cause of the Late Increase in Robbers”.
(Novel)
- 1755:
“Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon”.
Marriage:
1. 1734 to Charlotte Craddock (died 1744).
2. 1747 to Mary Daniel, his former wife's maid and cook who was
six month's pregnant, which was to prove very controversial in society.
Date and Place of Death:
8th October 1754, Lisbon, Portugal.
Age at Death:
46.
Site of Grave:
Cimeterio Ingles (English Cemetery), Lisbon,
Portugal.
Places of Interest:
AVON:
Lived in Twerton and stayed with his Sister in
Widcombe, Bath
