1850

William Wordsworth

Romantic poet. Born Cumberland, with the perfect name for a poet (see Isambard Brunel for more examples of nominative determinism). Died Grasmere, the Lake District. Passing through London in 1802 on his way to visit his ex-mistress and their daughter in France he was impressed with the view from Westminster Bridge and composed surely the best poem ever written about London: "Earth hath not anything to show more fair....".

The poem's full title is 'Composed upon Westminster Bridge, 3 September 1802' which is rather confusing since they crossed the bridge on 31 July 1802. It was first published in 1807.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Wordsworth

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Composed upon Westminster Bridge

W. Somerset Maugham's novel Of Human Bondage (P654-5) contains a lovely descr...

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
William Wordsworth

Creations i

Stockwell WW1 memorial

The design of this Portland stone clock tower was chosen through competition ...

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Other Subjects

Sir Henry Newbolt

Poet. Also: lawyer, novelist, playwright and magazine editor. Born Staffordshire. Famous for one poem: 'Vitai Lampada'. Written in 1897 this oh-so-British plea for war to be played in the same spir...

Person, Poetry

2 memorials

Lord Byron

Born Holles Street, baptised at St Marylebone church in the same year. Spent the first 10 years of his life in Aberdeen with his mother. On the death of a great-uncle in 1798 he succeeded to the ti...

Person, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Greece, Scotland

9 memorials

Lord Alfred Douglas

Journalist and poet. Son of the Marquess of Queensbury and lover of Oscar Wilde. Known as Bosie (a nickname given to him by his mother as a derivation of 'boysie'). After Wilde's release from priso...

Person, Gender Issues, Journalism / Publishing, Poetry

1 memorial

Tiruvalluvar

Author of the Tirukkural, the classic text of Tamil philosophy and ethics. The Tamil poet is commonly believed to have been born in the First Century BC in Madras (now called Chennai) in south ea...

Person, Poetry, India

1 memorial

Robert Burns

Born Alloway, Ayrshire. Wrote in the Scots language, and also in a Scots dialect which is accessible to English speakers. Also collected traditional songs. Scots the world over celebrate his birth ...

Person, Poetry, Seriously Famous, Scotland

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Finchley Toll Gate

Our picture is taken from an old map showing London toll gates (black circles), but strangely, nothing appears in Finchley.

Place, Transport

1 memorial

Rev. Thomas Beasley

From Uxbridge Gallimaufry: "Thomas Beasley grew up in Daventry, and later trained for the Congregational ministry. His first pastorate was at Walsall, where he met and married his wife, Phoebe. In ...

Person, Religion

1 memorial

Sir Ebenezer Howard

Founder of the garden city movement. Born 62 Fore Street. Travelled to America in 1871 where he tried farming and was in Chicago at the time that it was being rebuilt after a great fire. The new su...

Person, Architecture, Property, Social Welfare, USA

1 memorial

Edward Cox-Sinclair

Churchwarden, St Pancras Vestry in 1897. Andrew Behan has researched this man: Edward Cox was born in 1838 in St Pancras, London, a son of William James Cox and Mary Ann Cox. His father was a Coal...

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Mather and Smither

Ironfounders.

Group, Craft / Design

1 memorial