Person    | Male  Born 3/4/1783  Died 28/11/1859

Washington Irving

American writer who is best known for his short stories 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow' and 'Rip Van Winkle'.

Born 3 April 1783 in the USA, he travelled to Europe coming to England in 1815. He also went on to stay for some time in Germany and Spain, serving as the US ambassador to Spain from 1842 to 1846. Our picture source gives a biographical account of his life.

He died, aged 76 years, on 28 November 1859 in Tarrytown, Westchester County, New York, USA and was buried in the local cemetery. In 1998 the town of Tarrytown was renamed as Sleepy Hollow.

Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.

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Washington Irving

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