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1778-1830
Essayist and critic; born at Maidstone the son of a minister and spent several years of his early life with his parents in America. A few months after their return to England in 1787 his father was appointed minister of the chapel in Noble Street, Wem, in Shropshire and William spent the rest of his childhood and youth here. His home, now called Hazlitt House, still stands in Noble Street as a private dwelling. He was educated at private schools and often accompanied his mother and sister to gatherings of ladies in and around Wem, part of the social and pastoral work expected of a minister's family.
William was a great admirer of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and when the poet, about to become a minister himself, preached a probationary sermon at the Unitarian Church in Shrewsbury he walked all the way there in freezing weather to hear him. Hazlitt was bitterly disappointed when Coleridge received an annuity from Josiah Wedgwood, which enabled him to pursue a literary career, for this allowed him to leave Shrewsbury and prevented Hazlitt from making what he had hoped would be a close friendship. Hazlitt at this time was around nineteen years of age and of course, embarking on a literary career himself, was soon to become a friend of the Romantic poets.
Among his own best works are Characters of Shakespeare's plays (1817-18), Lectures on the English poets (1818-19) and The spirit of the age (1825).
From An Illustrated Literary Guide to Shropshire by Gordon Dickins, published by Shropshire Libraries, 1987. © Gordon Dickins, 1987.
The following works are available in the West Midlands Creative Literature Collection:-
Sketches and essays
The spirit of the age (1825)
A sample chapter and the complete text of The spirit of the age is available on this website.
The Literary Encyclopedia has a profile of William Hazlitt by James Mulvihill, University of Alberta.
Page created 9 February 2001 and last
updated 7 April 2005
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