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Celebrating Hampshire HistoriansDefoe, Daniel1660 – 24 April 1731Daniel Defoe was a prolific writer, producing more than 300 works on a range of subjects. He is famed for his novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) but, often at odds with authority, he also spent time in prison and the stocks! His life involved spells as a merchant, landowner, traveller, bankrupt and secret agent. His finest work, other than his novels, is the majestic A tour thro’ the whole island of Great Britain (1724-27) a sweeping view of the kingdom on the eve of the Industrial Revolution. Daniel Foe (he later added the ‘de’ prefix to sound more aristocratic) was probably born in Fore Street in the parish of St Giles, Cripplegate (now the Barbican). In his early years he witnessed both the ‘Great Plague’ and the ‘Great Fire’ of London and was schooled in a dissenting academy, at a time when those who worshipped outside the Church of England were persecuted by the government. In 1684, he married Mary Tuffley, daughter of a wealthy merchant, in a union which, despite their many difficulties, lasted 47 years and produced eight children. He was party to the ill-fated Monmouth Rebellion (1685) but was pardoned, and during the time of William III (1689-1702) became a close ally to the king, and a royalist spy. His fortunes changed during Queen Anne’s sole reign, but he did witness the ‘Great Storm’ of 1703, which became the subject of The Storm (1704), regarded by many as one of the first examples of modern journalism. From 1719 onwards, Defoe published the novels for which he is famous, as well as many ‘conduct manuals’ on moral behaviour and treatises on trade. His ‘Tour’ included a number of journeys through Hampshire, where he commented on such things as the danger of crossing the Itchen in a ‘very sorry boat’ and the discomfort of negotiating the sandy heath in the northeast of the county, but also the bountiful timber and shipbuilding opportunities and the character of towns. Winchester, for example, was ‘a place of no trade [with an] abundance of gentry. The clergy…very rich and very numerous.’ At the time of his death, Defoe was probably in hiding from his creditors. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, now in the Borough of Islington. Sourceshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Defoe PortraitContribution to county’s historyDefoe’s aim, in his Tour, was to report on ‘the present state’ of the country and Hampshire is well represented. Three centuries on, his descriptions are both an elegy for a lost world and an image of a society on the brink of great changes. Relevant published works
Critical CommentsOther CommentsContributorDave Allen, August 2022 KeywordsTour of Great Britain, Britain in the 18th CenturyAny queries or further suggestions for this part of the list should be addressed to celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk.
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