Who was William Hazlitt?
Essayist and critic.
Date and Place of Birth:
12th April 1778, Maidstone, Kent, England.
Family Background:
Son of an Irish Unitarian Preacher and because
his father had supported the American Revolution he was forced to
take his family back to Ireland to escape persecution.
Education:
New Unitarian College, Hackney, London.
Chronology/Biography of William Hazlitt:
1787: Family returned
to England and settled in Wem, Shropshire.
1791: Still a radical
his father was one of those protesting at the persecution of Joseph
Priestley in Birmingham.
1795: Sent to be
trained at the New Unitarian College in Hackney, London which had
been founded by Priestley.
1796: Met the poet
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, then training
to become a Unitarian Minister in Shrewsbury, who encouraged him
to write "The Principles of Human Action".
1797: Losing his
desire to become a radical Unitarian he left the college. Whilst
in London he met a number of influential radicals including Leigh
Hunt and Lord Byron. Next he had desires
at being a portrait painter but with no commissions and little success
he decided on becoming a writer.
1806: Published
his first major work "Free Thoughts on Public Affairs"
which was an attack on WIlliam Pitt and
his Government, especially in foreign policy. He opposed the war
with France and the consequent heavy taxation. He next wrote a succession
of pamphlets about political corruption and the need to change the
system of voting. He also began to write for "The Times"
newspaper as his friend Thomas Barnes was the parliamentary reporter
and then became the Editor.
1807: Published
"Reply to Malthus"
1813: Taken on as
the parliamentary reporter for "The Morning Chronicle"
a newspaper with Whig leanings, however he criticised both the Tories
and the Whigs with equal enthusiasm. He also wrote scathing articles
for "The Examiner" the Radical journal edited by Leigh
Hunt. Never rich he had to write for many other journals such as
the "Edinburgh Review" "The Yellow Dwarf" and
the "London Magazine" to try and make ends meet. Besides
politics he wrote on art, drama and literature.
1817: Wrote the
book "Characters of Shakespeare".
1818: Published
"Lectures on the English Poets".
1819: Wrote Political
Essays with Sketches of Public Characters" and "The Spirit
of the Age".
1826: Wrote "Contemporary
Portraits".
1828: Started on
his "Life of Napoleon Bonaparte" which he completed in
1830. His last years were dogged by ill health.
Written Works:
- 1805:
“An Essay on the Principles of Human Action”.
- 1806:
“Free Thoughts on Public Affairs”.
- 1817: “Characters
of Shakespeare's Plays”.
- 1818: “Lectures
on the English Poets”. “A Review of the English Stage”.
- 1819:
“Lectures on the English Comic Writers”. “Political Essays, with
Sketches of Public Characters”.
- 1821:
“Lectures on Elizabethan Drama”. "Table Talk"
- 1823:
“Liber Amoris”.
- 1824:
“Sketches of the Principal Picture Galleries of England”.
- 1825: “The
Spirit of the Age”.
- 1826:
“Journey through France and Italy”. “The Plain Speaker”.
- 1828:
“The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte”.
- (1836):
“Literary Remains with Memoir by his Son”.
Marriage:
1st May 1808 to Sarah Stoddart at St. Andrew’s
Church, Holborn, London. She was the sister of the Editor of "The
Times" newspaper. (1822. Divorced in Edinburgh due to an affair
with his maid Sarah Walker).
17th July 1824 to Isabella Bridgewater at Coldstream, Scotland as
the divorce was not legally recognised in England but the relationship
only lasted for one year.
Places of Interest:
Date and Place of Death:
18th September 1830, Soho, London, England in
poverty, probably due to stomach cancer.
Age at Death:
52.
Site of Grave:
St. Anne’s Churchyard, Dean Street, Soho, London.
England.
