Britain Unlimited covers 250 Great British people and what made them famous

Who was Charles Lamb? Essayist, Critic, and Poet. Date and Place of Birth: 12th February 1775, London, England. Family Background: Son of a Scrivener who was confidential clerk to Samuel Salt one of the bencher's of the Inner Temple. Education: Christ's Hospital, London, where he met and became a liflong friend of, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Chronology: 1789: Went to work as a clerk at the South Sea House. 1792: Transferred to India House. Death of Mr Salt left the family (except for his brother John who had a well paid job at South Sea House) in reduced cicumstances 1796: Mary, his sister killed his mother in a fit of madness with a table knife. (Lamb looked after her for the rest of her life and she was to be his constant companion and the "Cousin Briget" of many of his essays). He contributed four sonnets to Coleridge's "Poems on Various Subjects". 1798: He published "Blank Verse" in collaboration with his friend Charles Lloyd (of Lloyd's Bank fame). This included "The Old Familiar Faces" which became one of his best loved poems. 1807: Charles and Mary had moved around from one set of lodgings to another and most of his literary outpourings had brought neither fame nor the much needed money. He was asked by William Godwin to help contribute to his "Juvenile Library". To this he contributed the work which was to become famous, "Tales from Shakespeare". (Charles worked on the Tragedies whilst Mary worked on the comedies). 1808: They again collaborated on a work for Children "The Adventures of Ulysses." 1809: He was commissioned by the publishers Longmans to edit and criticise selections from the Elizabethan dramatists. 1812: He published works on Hogarth and Shakespeare which appeared in the journal "The Reflector" edited by Hunt. 1818: His many works for various publications were brought together in the "Works of Charles Lamb" and because of this he was asked by the "London Magazine" to contribute a series of essays. These essays, under the pseudonymn "Elia" (named after a fellow Clerk in India House) were to secure his fame once and for all. 1820-25: First series of "Essays of "Elia". 1823: He left London and took up a cottage in Islington now he was earning more money. Charles and Mary took with them Emma Isola a young orphan whom they looked after until she married. 1825: Retired from India House on a pension of two thirds of his salary. The Lambs went to live at Enfield and then Edmonton. 1833: Marriage of Emma Isola to the publisher E. Moxon. Completion of "The Last Essays of Elia". (1847): Death of Mary Lamb. Written Works: 1798: "The Old Familiar Faces"."A Tale of Rosamund Gray". 1802: "John Woodvil”. (Drama). 1803: "Hester". 1806: "Mr. H". (Farce). 1807: "Tales from Shakespeare". (With Mary Lamb, published at the invitation of William Godwin). 1808: "The Adventures of Ulysses". 1809: "Poetry for Children". 1811: "On the Tragedies of Shakespeare". "A Bachelor's Complaint on the Behaviour of Married Couples". 1818: "Collected Works". "Queen Oriana's Dream". 1819: "Valentine's Day". 1820: "Essays of Elia". "The South Sea House". 1821: "My Relations". 1823: "Essays of Elia". (2nd Edition). "Poor Relations". 1825: "The Superannuated Man". 1826: "The Genteel Style in Writing". "Sanity of True Genius". 1827: "Angel Help". 1828: "On an Infant Dying as Soon as it was Born." 1830: "To a Young Friend". "She is Going." 1833: "Last Essays of Elia". (1837): "Letters with a Life by Talfourd". Marriage: Never Married as he devoted his time to looking after his sister. Places of Interest: LONDON: British Library holds various works including a certificate proving his acceptability to work for the East India Company. Date and Place of Death: 27th December 1834, Edmonton, Middlesex, England after complications to a wound suffered in a fall. Age at Death: 58. Site of Grave: All Saint’s Churchyard, Edmonton, London, England. Furher Information: Charles Lamb Society c/o R Healey 80 Hull Lane Great Chisholm Royston Herts SG8 8SH