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

Who was William Morris? Artist, Poet and Designer. Date and Place of Birth: 24th March 1834, Elm House, Walthamstow, London, England. Family Background: Born into a comfortably off middle class family. Education: Marlborough College. Studied for Holy Orders at Exeter College, Oxford (where he met Burne-Jones).(Renounced the church and then studied architecture). Chronology: 1840: Family moves to Woodford Hall. 1847: Death of his father. 1851: Visits the Great Exhibition in London. 1852: Finishes his education privately with the Reverend F. B. Guy. 1855: Is granted a private income. 1856: Becomes an articled Clerk to G. E. Street. 1857: Helps to paint the frescoes at the Oxford Union. 1859: After marrying the model Jane Burden they move into the Red House at Upton in Kent, which he designed and furnished with help from the architect Philip Webb. 1861: Morris, Marshall and Faulkner and Co is founded. Birth of his daughter Jenny. 1862: Morris's firm exhibit at the International Exhibition. Birth of his daughter May. 1865: The family moves to 26 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, London. Is given the jobs of decorating the Green Dining Room in the South Kensington Museum and the Armoury and Tapestry Rooms at St. Jame's Palace. 1869: Begins working on calligraphy and illuminating manuscripts. 1871: Travels around Iceland. Takes on the joint tenancy of Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire with Dante Gabriel Rossetti. 1872: Moves from Bloomsbury to Horrington House in Chiswick. 1873: Visits Italy and Iceland. 1874: His firm is reconstituted as Morris and Company. 1875 He makes his first two designs for Wilton Carpets. 1876: Serves as an examiner at the South Kensington School of Art. 1877: Takes up carpet weaving. Founds the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. Lectures in public on the decorative arts. 1878: Moves to 26 Upper Mall, Hammersmith, London. 1879: Becomes Treasurer of the National Liberal League. 1881: Establishment of Merton Abbey Works. Begins weaving tapestries. 1882: Takes on Frank Brangwyn as an apprentice. 1883: Joins the Democratic Federation. 1884: Becomes the leader of the Socialist League. Lectures on textile fabrics at the International Health Exhibition 1885: He is arrested after an assault on a policemen but is later released as a well known man of letters. 1887: Riots take place in Trafalgar Square. 1888: Founding of the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society by Walter Crane. 1889: Goes to Paris to attend the International Conference of Socialists. 1890: The Kelmscott Press is founded. He withdraws form the Socialist League. 1892: Refuses the offer of becoming Poet Laureate. 1893: First issue of the journal "The Studio" is published. 1895: Starts to become ill. 1896: Travels in Norway. Written Works: 1858: “The Defence of Guenevere and Other Poems.” 1867: “The Life and Death of Jason.” 1868: “The Earthly Paradise.” 1872: “Love is Enough, A Morality.” 1874: “The Aeneid of Virgil.” 1876: “The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs.” 1882: “Hopes and Fears for Art.” “Ouida.” ” In Maremma.” 1885: “Chants for Socialists.” 1886: “The Pilgrims of Hope.” 1887: “The Odyssey.” 1888: "A Dream of John Ball and a King's Lesson". "Signs of Change." 1889: “The House of the Wollings.” 1890: “News from Nowhere.” 1891: “The Story of the Glittering Plain.” 1894: “The Wood Beyond the World.” "How I became a Socialist". 1895: “Child Christopher and Goldikind the Fair.” 1896: “The Well at the World's End.” (1912): “Collected Works.” Marriage: 26th April 1859: To Jane Burden a model. Places of Interest: LONDON: Merton Abbey Works, Merton Red House, Bexley St. James Palace Victoria and Albert Museum Water House, Lloyd Park, Waltham Forest 6 Queen's Square, Westminster OXFORDSHIRE All Saint's Church, Middleton Cheney Memorial Cottage, Kelmscott Kelmscott Manor St. Mary's Church, Bloxham WOLVERHAMPTON: Wightwick Manor (Holds many original Morris decorations even though he never visited himself). Date and Place of Death: 3rd October 1896, Hammersmith, London, England. Age at Death: 62. Site of Grave: St. George’s Church, Kelmscott, Oxfordshire.