William Golding

In 1939, Golding got married to Ann Brookfield, an analytic chemist and had two children with her, Judith and David. He remained married to her until his death and died beside her at their house in Cornwall.

In 1993, Golding died of heart failure in Tullimaar House at Perranarworthal, Cornwall. He is buried in the village churchyard, South Wiltshire. His son David and daughter Judith now lives at the Tullimaar House.

William Golding was born on 19 September 1911 at his grandmother’s house in Newquay, Cornwall, England, to Alec and Mildred Golding. He grew up with his elder brother in Wiltshire. His father taught at the Marlborough Grammar School.

His mother was an active suffragette and fought for women’s right. He and his brother went to his father’s school where Golding was subjected to bullying and alienation, which is exclusively mentioned in his only biography written by John Carey.

He attended the Brasenose College, Oxford, where he was initially educated to be a scientist and he studied natural science for 2 years but he developed an interest in literature and got himself transferred to English literature and philosophy.

In 1934, around the time when Golding was about to graduate from the Oxford, his book of poetry called ‘Poems’ was published by Macmillan & Co, London. It was materialized with the help of his oxford friend Adam Bittleston.

For a short period of time he worked at a settlement house and in theatre companies, exploring himself as an actor and a writer and eventually started to teach English and philosophy at Bishop’s Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury in 1935.

In 1940, Golding abandoned teaching and joined the Royal Navy to participate in World War II. He spent next 5 years of his life serving his nation and travelling on a boat. After his stint with the war, he went back to teaching.

In 1954, after facing at least 21 rejections from publishing companies all over England, Golding finally got his first work of fiction ‘Lord of the flies’ published by Faber & Faber, London. The book was based on the brutality of human nature.

The novel was based on his experiences that he gathered from working with the army in the adversity of the war. The story revolves around a bunch of adolescent boys who are left alone on an island and how they turn against each other in order to survive.

In the 1980s Golding was recognized for his classical and critically acclaimed work ‘Lord of the Flies’ and was awarded with a Nobel Prize at the age of 73, nearly 2 decades after the novel was first written. He was also knighted by the queen.