William Godwin

He married the feminist writer, Mary Wollstonecraft in 1797 and wrote a candid biography of her after her sudden death. He had a daughter, Mary Shelley Godwin, who wrote ‘Frankenstein’ and married Percy Bysshe Shelley, the poet.

He got married a second time, to Mary Jane Clairmont, who influenced him to write children’s primers on classical history.

He passed away at the age 80, on April 7, 1836, in London, England.

William Godwin was born into a middle class family in Cambridgeshire, England. His parents followed Calvinism strictly. His father who served as a Nonconformist minister in Guestwick, Norfolk passed away at a young age.

He attended the Hoxton Academy, where he studied under eminent personalities like Andrew Kippis, Robert Sandeman and Dr. Abraham Reese.

He served as the minister at Ware, Stowmarket and Beaconsfield, before he left for London in 1782.

While in London, his first work, titled, ‘Life of Lord Chatham’, was published in 1783.

He authored ‘Sketches of History’, which was published in 1784. This book contained six sermons on the characters of Jesus, Aaron and Hazael.

In 1793, while the French Revolution was in full-swing, he published a full treatise on political science, titled, ‘Enquiry concerning Political Justice, and its Influence on General Virtue and Happiness’.

‘Things as They Are; or The Adventures of Caleb Williams’ was published in 1794 which was written to popularize the ideas presented in the former book, ‘Political Justice’.

‘Enquiry Concerning Political Justice and its influence on Morals and Happiness’ was published in 1793 and outlined Godwin’s political philosophy. This book was revered by First Generation poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The work is considered one of his masterpieces to date.

‘Things as They Are; or, The Adventures of Caleb Williams’ was published on May 12, 1794 which is a three-volume novel. The publication attracted a great deal of positive reviews and was later staged by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.