Who was Oliver Goldsmith?
Oliver Goldsmith was an eighteenth century dramatist,
poet, essayist, physician and eccentric.
Date and Place of Birth:
Disputed but generally accepted as 10th November
1730, Smith-Hill House, Elphin, Roscommon, Ireland home of his maternal
grandparents or Pallas, near Ballymahon, County Longford, where
his father was Anglican curate of of Forgney.
Family Background:
Goldsmith was the son of an Anglo-Irish Clergyman.
Education:
School in Kilkenny West. Trinity College, Dublin.
Medical School, Edinburgh.
Chronology/Biography of Oliver Goldsmith:
1732: Goldsmith's
father was appointed as the rector of the parish of "Kilkenny
West" in County Westmeath, Ireland and the family moved there.
THey lived in the parsonage at Lissoy near Athlone.
1747: Death of his
father.
1749: Oliver Goldsmith
graduated from Trinity College, Dublin. It is recorded that he made
no friends there due to his course and odd manner. Lived with his
mother. This period of his life was set by mishap. His time as a
tutor was a disaster and he didn't manage to go to America because
he missed the ship. He went back to Dublin to study law but lost
all his money due to gambling.
1754: After coming
into some money Goldsmith went to Edinburgh to study medicine, although
he rarely attended lectures.
1755: Visited Leiden
in Holland and then on to Switzerland and Northern Italy. He made
a small living by playing his flute.
1756: Returned to
England penniless, although he claimed he had earned a Doctor's
degree, In London he translated minor works and wrote some small
histories and children's works. His history of Beau Nash earned
him some fame and a little money. He is said to have written "The
History of Little Goody Two SHoes" from which the famous phrase
comes.
1758: He used the
pseudonym "James Willington" for his autobiography of
the Huguenot Jean Marteilhe. James was actually a fellow student
at Trinity.
1759: He wrote one
of the first major works in his cannon "The Enquiry into the
Present State of Polite Learning". He became a member of the
"Literary Club" and often conversed with Samuel
Johnson and Edmund Burke.
1764: With the Publication
of "The Traveller" Oliver Goldsmith's reputation as a
poet was finally made.
1766: The publication
of "The Vicar of Wakefield" sealed his fame.
1771: Goldsmith moved
to Kinsgbury, London.
1773: Perhaps his
best known work "She Stoops to Conquer" was highly successful
when staged in London. He was still drinking and gambling heavily
at this period which contributed to his early demise.
Written Works:
- 1758: "The
Memoirs of a Protestant" (translation.)
- 1759: "An
Enquiry into the Present State of Polite Learning in Europe"
- 1762: "The
Mystery Revealed", "The Life of Richard Nash",
"The Citizen of the World: or, Letters from a Chinese Philosopher",
2 vols.
- 1764: "The
Traveller; or "A Prospect of Society": (Poem)
- 1766: “The
Vicar of Wakefield”, "An Elegy on the Death of a Mad
Dog"
- 1767: "Letter
to St James's Chronicle"
- 1768: "The
Good Natur'd Man" Comedy
- 1769: "The
Roman History", 2 vols
- 1770: "The
Deserted Village" (Poem) , "The Life of Thomas Parnell"
, "The Life of Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke"
- 1771: "The
History of England" 4 vols.
- 1773: "She
Stoops to Conquer" or, "The Mistakes of a Night: A Comedy"
, Articles for "The Westminster Magazine"
- 1774: "Grecian
History, Retaliation": (Poem) , "An History of the Earth,
and Animated Nature", "An Abridgement of the History
of England"
- 1765: "Edwin
and Angelina". (Ballad)
- 1776: "The
Haunch of Venison: A Poetical Epistle to Lord Clare"
Marriage:
Never married.
Date and Place of Death:
4th April 1774, London of a kidney infection.
Age at Death:
43.
Site of Grave:
The Temple Church, Temple Fleet Street, London,
England.
Places of Interest:
The Temple Church, Temple Fleet Street, London,
England.
