Who was William Godwin?
Political Philosopher
and Novelist.
Date and Place of Birth:
3rd March 1756, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire,
England.
Family Background:
Spent childhood in Guestwick, Norfolk.
Education:
Hoxton Presbyterian College.
Chronology/Biography of William Godwin:
1779: Started a
five-year ministry of religion at Ware, Stowmarket and Beaconsfield
where his sympathies turned increasingly republican.
1787: Turned a complete
“Non-believer”.
1791: Took rooms
in the St. Paul's District of London.
1793: His ”An Enquiry
Concerning Political Justice” brought him fame and the admiration
of such people as Coleridge, Southey,
Wordsworth and Shelley.
Shelley was later to become his disciple,
benefactor and son in law.
1794: His publication
of the masterpiece “The Adventures of Caleb Williams” was sceptical
about much of the law, especially that of marriage, however it deprecated
violence, especially against the state and he narrowly missed prosecution.
1796: Meets Mary
Wollstonecraft.
1797: Moves to 29
The Polygon, Somers Town, London. Birth of his Daughter Mary
and the death of his wife.
1799: His friends
Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Charles
Lamb come to stay.
1803: Son William
born. Opens his bookshop just of the Tottenham Court Road in Hanway
Street.
1807: Moves his
shop to 41 Skinner Street.
1812: Visits the
Shelleys in their cottage in Lynmouth in Devon.1822: Moves to 195
The Strand still owing a lot of rent at Skinner Street.
1833: As his bookselling
business was not financially successful he was relieved to be appointed
to the post of “Yeoman of the Exchequer”. Lodgings at New Pace Yard
came with the post.
1834: 16th Oct.
Part of his duties was to maintain the fire fighting equipment for
the Houses of Parliament. Unfortunately this equipment proved inadequate
when the parliament buildings caught fire during the evening causing
extensive damage.
Written Works:
- 1793:
“An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice”.
- 1794:
“Caleb Williams”.
- 1797:
“The Enquirer”.
- 1798:
“Memoirs of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Women
(Mary Wollstonecraft)”.
- 1799:
“St. Leon”.
- 1800:
“Antonio”. (Play).
- 1805:
“Fleetwood”.
- 1817:
“Mandeville”.
- 1820:
“Of Population, in Answer to Mr. Malthus”.
- 1824:
“The History of the Commonwealth of England”.
- 1830:
“Cloudesley, A Tale”.
Marriage:
March 1797 to Mary Wollstonecraft,
Mother of Mary Shelley, at St. Pancras
Church, London. (died giving birth to daughter Mary in August 1797).
1801: To Mrs Mary Jane Clairemont.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
The British Library.
DEVON:
Lynmouth visits Shelleys.
Date and Place of Death:
7th April 1836, London.
Age at Death:
80.
Site of Grave:
Re-interred in St. Peter’s Churchyard, Bournemouth,
Dorset, England with Wife Mary Wollstonecraft.
