Hogg, Thomas Jefferson

LAWYER, BIOGRAPHER (ENGLAND)
BORN 24 May 1792, Stockton-on-Tees - DIED 27 Aug 1862, London
GRAVE LOCATION London: Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, Kensal Green (088/PS (18029))

Thomas Jefferson Hogg was the son of the country gentleman John Hogg from Durham. He was educated at Durham School and at University College, Oxford. In Oxford he met Percy Bysshe Shelley. They became close friends and both we expelled from Oxford after the publication of Shelley's pamphlet "The Necessity of Atheism".

He started a legal career and was called to the bar in 1817. Hogg had his eye on Shelley's first wife Harriet when he visited her in York. Shelley was in Sussex at the time. Harriet rejected Hogg, but after an estrangement their friendshio was restored. Shelley believed in free love and tried to couple Hogg to his new mistress Mary Godwin, for whom he had left Harriet. But Mary was pregnant and nothing came of it.

After Shelley's death he lived with Jane Williams, whose lover Edward Williams had drowned with Shelley in Italy. They had two children. In 1832 his reminiscences of Shelley were published in New Monthly Magazine.

In the late 1830s, Jane's still legal husband John Edward Johnson tried to blackmail hogg, but he accidentally approached another Hogg, who threatened to press charges. In 1840 Johnson died but he didn't marry Jane to avoid a scandal, since almost everybody thought the had been married for many years.

In 1857 he was requested by Percy Florence Shelley, the poet's son, to write a biography about Shelley. The first two volumes were published in 1858 and it was as much about himself as about Shelley. The Shelley family was upset and prevented the publication of further volumes. Hogg died in 1862 in London.

Family
• Daughter: Hogg, Prudentia Sarah

Related persons
• was a friend of Shelley, Percy Bysshe
• met Vaccà Berlinghieri, Andrea
• was the lover of Williams, Jane

Events
26/3/1811Shelley and Hogg leave Oxford. In the morning, by coach. After they arrived in London they took lodgings at 15 Poland Street. Shelley liked the name of the street because if reminded him of Thaddeus of Warsaw and of freedom. [Shelley, Percy Bysshe]
0/10/1811Thomas Jefferson tries to seduce Harriet Shelley. Harriet had married Percy Bysshe Shelley in August. Hogg visited her in York at the time Shelley was in Sussex. Harriet rejected Hogg. [Shelley, Percy Bysshe][Westbrook, Harriet]
14/11/1814Shelley introduces Mary to his friend Hogg [Shelley, Mary][Shelley, Percy Bysshe]
1/1/1815T.J. Hogg declares his love to Mary Godwin, encouraged by P.B. Shelley. Mary accepted his affection, but she didn't answer it physically since she was pregnant from Shelley. Shelley was a strong advocate of free love and it is possible that he had sexual relations with her stepsister Claire at the time. [Clairmont, Claire][Shelley, Mary][Shelley, Percy Bysshe]
13/7/1827Mary Shelley finds out that her friend Jane Williams has betrayed her. Jane was Mary's best friend, but Jane had spread malicious rumours about Mary behind her back. One of the things Jane said was that she had treated Shelley badly during his last year. Jane told this to Leigh Hunt and T.J. Hogg. [Hunt, Leigh][Shelley, Mary][Shelley, Percy Bysshe][Williams, Jane]

Images

The grave of Jane Williams and T.J. Hogg at Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Her daughter Prudentia Sarah and her first husband Thomas James Arnold were buried here as well.
Picture by Androom (10 Aug 1997)

 

Sources
• Mellor, Anne K., Mary Shelley, her Life, her Fiction, her Monsters, Routledge, New York, 1989
• Daiches, David (ed.), The Penguin Companion to Literature 1, Penguin Books, 1971
• Roe, Ivan, Shelley: The Last Phase, Hutchinson & Co, London, 1955
Thomas Jefferson Hogg - Wikipedia


Hohenfels-Berger, Stella, Freifrau von

Published: 17 Apr 2017
Last update: 25 Apr 2022