Washington College - Summer Program at Kiplin Hall, England

Portrait of a Poet

William Wordsworth (April 7, 1770 - April 23, 1850)

He was born in Cockermouth in what is now called the Wordsworth House.
He spent most of his childhood in Cockermouth and Penrith, his mother's hometown.
His mother died when he was 8 and his father died when he was 13.
From 1779 - 1787 he attended the Grammar School in Hawkshead and did very well.
He visited the countryside and mountains often, inspired by nature.
He then went to St. John's College Cambridge to pursue a literary career.
In 1795 the Wordsworths stayed in a cottage in Dorset, where he met Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey.
In December 1799 William and his sister, Dorothy moved into Dove Cottage in Grasmere.
In 1802 William married Mary Hutchinson.
Thomas De Quincy moved in with the Wordsworths in 1808 and, as a result, moved into Allan Bank in Grasmere, which was bigger but William did not like. They lived there for two years with Coleridge.
They moved to the Old Rectory, a cold and damp house where his two youngest children died.
In 1813 they moved to Rydal Mount, where they lived for the remainder of their lives.
In 1842 he became Poet Laureate.
He died in 1850 during a cold country walk at 80 years of age.

Works of Focus

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 - July 25, 1834)

Born in Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire to a school headmaster
Begins attending Dame Key's Reading School in 1775 (age 3)
Coleridge was by his own account an odd boy, temperamental, bad at sports and a voracious reader
Father dies when he is nine years old;
Enters Jesus College (Cambridge) in 1791 (age 19)
Enlisted in the 15th Light Dragoons under the name Silas Tomkyn Comberbache in 1793; returns to Cambridge in the following year
Publishes The Fall of Robespierre in December 1794 with Robert Southey and leaves Cambridge without a degree
Marries Sara Fricker -- They move to Clevedon, Somerset (October 31, 1795)
Moved family to Nether Stowey in 1796
Began using Opium in his late 20's - Compared to the modern day "rock star"
Had many jobs: worked for the English government in Malta; he worked as a journalist in London; he wrote plays, poetry, philosophy, literary criticism, political analysis, theology and he made translations
Moved family to Greta Hall, Keswick (Lake District) in 1800
Moves into the Wordsworth home where Sara Hutchinson is; sister-in-law of Wordsworth that Coleridge fell in love with
Enters household of Dr. James Gillman of London suburb of Highgate, as patient and housemate (May 25, 1816)
Died on July 25, 1834 in Highgate

Works of Focus

Charlotte Bronte (April 21, 1816- March 31, 1855)

Born in Thornton at Yorkshire to Rev. Patrick and Maria Bronte
Moved to Harworth, a small remote area (Age 4)
Charlotte's mother dies on September 15, 1821
Become a student at the Clergy Daughters' School, Cowan Bridge with sisters Maria, Elizabeth and Emily (Age 8)
Maria and Emily both pass away within two months (1825)
Enrolls at Miss Wooler's School, Roe Head (Age 15)
Becomes teacher at Roe Head (Age 19)
Goes to Brussels to teach English and to study (Age 26)
June 28, 1854 marries A. B. Nicholls
Died on March 31, 1855

Works of Focus

Emily Bronte (July 30, 1818 - December 19, 1848)

Born in Thornton at Yorkshire the fifth of six children
Instructed by father at a young age not to interact with townspeople
"Weird one" of the family
Would wonder around the moors at all times of day & night (unusual for young girls)
Wrote books backwards so one would have to put the book near a mirror to read
Enters Clergy Daughters' School, Cowan Bridge (Age 6)
Pupil at Roe Head for four months before returning home due to health in 1835
Goes to teach at Law Hill School in 1837
Brother Branwell dies September 24, 1848 in a pub
Died December 19, 1848 of fever/tuberculosis attained from Branwell's funeral

Works of Focus

Robert Burns (January 25, 1759 - July 21, 1796)

He was born in Alloway.
He spent his youth working his father's farm. Despite his poverty, Robert was tutored and, as a result, well read.
By age 15 he was the principal worker on the farm, using writing as a way to let off steam.
Hi father died in 1784, leaving Robert and his brother as partners on the farm. However, he was unhappy and planned to leave for the West Indies to pursue his writing.
After abandoning farming, his first book of verse, Poems-Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect-Kilmarnock Edition, was published and received much fame.
In a matter of weeks he became a national celebrity.
After receiving much praise, Jean Armour's father allowed him to marry her.
However, he was not financially secure and took a job collecting taxes to support his wife.
He died at age 37 of heart disease.

Works of Focus

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