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. First met Mary
Wollstoncraft at a dinner held by the publisher Joseph Johnson
where Tom Paine was speaking. Godwin was
disappointed with Mary as she spent
to whole time criticising Paine.
1793: Godwin's ”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 for the second time and starts a relationship
with her.
1797: Moves to 29
The Polygon, Somers Town, London after his marriage to Mary. Birth
of his Daughter Mary (later to
become Mary Shelley) and the death
of his wife.
St Pancras Old Church where William Godwin and Mary
Wollstonecraft were married.
The church has stood here since the eleventh century.
The West Tower was demolished in the mid nineteenth Century
and a new bell tower was erected on the side.
(© Anthony Blagg)
1798: Writes “Memoirs
of the Author of a Vindication of the Rights of Women" about
Mary Wollstonecraft which shocks
many of his friends and polite society with its candour.
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: Godwin 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:
“Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General
Virtue and Happiness”.
- 1794:
“Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of 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”.
- 1831: "Thoughts
on Man, his Nature, Productions, and Discoveries, Interspersed
with some particulars respecting the author.
- 1833: "Deloraine"
- 1834: "Lives
of the Necromancers".
Marriage:
March 1797 to Mary
Wollstonecraft, Mother of Mary
Shelley, at St. Pancras Old Church, London. (died giving birth
to daughter Mary in August 1797).
1801: To Mrs Mary Jane Clairemont.
Date and Place of Death:
7th April 1836, London.
Age at Death:
80.
Site of Grave:
Originally buried in St Pancras Old Churchyard
but was re-interred in 1851 by his grandson Percy Florence Shelley
in St. Peter's Churchyard, Bournemouth, Dorset, England with wife
Mary Wollstonecraft and next to
Daughter Mary Shelley.
The original grave of William Godwin and Mary
Wollstonecraft
in St Pancras Old Churchyard.
(Note the ornate grave of Sir John Soanes in background
which was later the inspiration for the public telephone box K2)
(© Anthony Blagg)
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
The British Library.
St Pancras Old Church and gardens.
DEVON:
Lynmouth visits Shelleys.
