Poet. Born at Field Place, near Horsham in Sussex. Had a habit of eloping with and then marrying 16 or 17 year olds: first Harriet Westbrook. When she, pregnant, drowned herself in the Serpentine Percy waited 2 weeks and then married Mary Godwin with whom he had been living for the previous 2 years.
Although he couldn't swim and often predicted that he would die by drowning, Shelley spent the summer of 1822 sailing on the Bay of Lerici. A storm threw him and others overboard. The bodies were washed ashore 10 days later and, in the presence of Lord Byron and Leigh Hunt, a cremation took place on the beach. Shelley's heart was saved and given to Mary who carried it with her all her life, taking it to her own grave (or their son kept it and took it to his grave, stories vary). Shelley's ashes were later buried in the Protestant cemetery in Rome.
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Commemorated ati
Percy & Mary Shelley
After their elopement in July 1814 the Shelleys lived here with Claire Clairm...
Percy Shelley - SE1 - blue
British History Online: "In 1932 the London County Council erected a memorial...
Percy Shelley - SE1 - Southwark
Percy Bysshe Shelley lived at No. 26 Nelson Square which formerly stood on a ...
Somers Town Mural
This mural was commissioned by the GLC in 1980 and moved to this site by St P...
Other Subjects
Tobias George Smollett
Born Dalquhurn (now part of Renton) Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Poet and author of novels such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle which supposedly influenced ...
Sir Walter Raleigh
Courtier, explorer, author and puddle-coverer. Born Devon. Became a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I and explored Virginia, America, for her, enabling its colonisation. Briefly imprisoned in the T...
Person, Exploring, Poetry, Politics & Administration, Seriously Famous, USA
Ugo Foscolo
Poet and patriot. Born Niccolò Foscolo on the island of Zakynthos, which was then part of the Republic of Venice (now Greece). His writings include 'Letters of Ortis' and the poem ' I Sepolcri'. Wh...
Lemn Sissay
Poet. Born near Wigan of Ethiopean parentage. Appointed MBE in 2010. Own website.
Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them