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 The grave of William Makepeace Thackeray on Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (11 Dec 1993) |
Thackeray, William Makepeace |
| NOVELIST (ENGLAND) |
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BORN 18 Jul 1811, Calcutta - DIED 29 Dec 1863, London GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (036/1 (18177)) |
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William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta as the son of
a Collector working for the East Indian Company. He was sent
to England after his father's death and he studied in Cambridge.
There he lost much of his father's fortune through gambling
and he left the university without taking a degree. He travelled to the continent and spent the winter in Weimar, where he met Goethe. Back in Germany he studied law for a while. After the bankruptcy of an Indian bank the rest of his inheritance was lost and he started to earn his living as a journalist. In 1834-1835 he lived in Paris, where he met his wife, Isabella Shawe. They married in 1836. After a few happy years his wife developed mental problems, possibly because she was lonely since her husband was often away for work. In 1840 she broke down and she never recovered. Thackeray sent their children to France to his mother (in 1846 they returned to him in England). In 1839 he had published his first novel "Catharine" but success came in 1848 with "Vanity Fair". The book made him famous and his poverty was over. Around 1852 he had a platonic affair with Jane Brookwood, the wife of a friend from Cambridge. She didn't leave her husband and eventually he ended the affair. Like Charles Dickens he lectured in the United States and in 1860 he became the first editor of Cornhill Magazine, a well paid job. His contacts with Charles Dickens had been good, but ended with a quarrel. Just after he had reconciled with Dickens he suddenly died in December 1863. Related persons • knew Ainsworth, William Harrison • was a friend of Dickens, Charles John Huffham • met Irving, Washington • wrote about Soyer, Alexis Benoit Sources • Paths of Glory, The Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery, London, 1997 • William Makepeace Thackeray: A Brief Biography • William Makepeace Thackeray |
| Images |
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The grave of William Makepeace Thackeray on Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Picture by Androom (11 Dec 1993) |
