Henry Fielding (1707 - 1754)

Biography

Henry Fielding is Notable.

Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones.

Aside from his literary achievements, he has a significant place in the history of law-enforcement, having founded (with his half-brother John) what some have called London's first police force, the Bow Street Runners, using his authority as a magistrate.

His younger sister, Sarah), also became a successful writer.

He was educated at Eton.^[1]. He started his activitity in the theatre in London and already produced a play there and then spent at least a year at university in Leyden.^[2].

He was admitted to Middle Temple as a student in 1737 and was called to the Bar on 20 Jun 1740.^[3] He did practise for a time at the Bar, in parallel with his literary activities.^[4]

Fielding married his first wife, Charlotte Craddock, in 1734. Charlotte, on whom he later modelled the heroines of both Tom Jones and Amelia, died in 1744. By her he had five children, of whom a lone daughter, Henrietta), would survive childhood only to die at the age of 23, having already been "in deep decline" when she married military engineer James Gabriel Montresor months before.

Three years after Charlotte's death, disregarding public opinion, he married her former maid, Mary Daniel , who was pregnant. Mary bore five children, three daughters who died young and sons William and Allen.

Fielding's ardent commitment to the cause of justice as a great humanitarian in the 1750s (for instance, his support of Elizabeth Canning) coincided with a rapid deterioration in his health. This continued to such an extent that he went abroad to Portugal in 1754 in search of a cure. Gout, asthma and other afflictions made him use crutches. He died in Lisbon two months later, on 8 October 1754^[5] and was buried in the English Cemetery (Cemitério dos Ingleses).^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Eton College Register 1698-1752 pp. 127-8 FIELDING c 1719-22 (not in Eton College Lists). Henry, e.s. Edmund F., general in the army, by Sarah, dau. Sir Henry Gould; b. 22 Apr. 1707 at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury : went to Eton in Oct. 1719, but ran away to his grandmother's house at Salisbury in Apr. 1721 ; was at Eton in 1722 ; admitted to Leyden university 16 Mar. 1728: Author of Tom Jones, etc. ; d. at Lisbon 8 Oct. 1754. (Dict. Nat. Biog.; Godden, Life of Fielding.) (Eton College Archives) (accessed 3 Feb 2023)
2. ↑ Austin Dobson (1908) De Libris: Prose and Verse, Macmillan & Co., Fresh Facts about Fielding To sum up: After producing Love in Several Masques at Drury Lane, probably on February 12th, 1728, Fielding was admitted a "Litt. Stud." at Leyden University on March 16th. (Google Books) (accessed 3 Feb 2022)
3. ↑ Middle Temple, Registers of Admissions, 1501-1781 p. 322 1 Nov. HENRY FIELDING, of East Stour, Dorset, esq., son and heir of Brigadier General Edmund F. Called 20 June, 1740.(accessed 3 Feb 2022)
4. ↑ Ribble, Frederick G. “Henry Fielding at the Bar: A Reappraisal.” Studies in Philology, vol. 110, no. 4, 2013, pp. 903–13 (JSTOR) (accessed 3 Feb. 2023)
5. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900. Fielding, Henry (1707-1754) by Leslie Stephen vol 18 pp . 416-24 (Wikisource) (accessed 3 Feb 2023)
6. ↑ Burial: "Global, Find a Grave™ Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current"
   Find a Grave™. Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi; URL: Find A Grave: Memorial #1236
   Ancestry uk Record 60541 #65 (accessed 3 February 2023)
   Henry Fielding burial (died on 8 Oct 1754) in Lisbon, Lisboa Municipality, Lisboa, Portugal.

• "Henry Fielding (1707–1754)". The Literary Encyclopedia.
• "Henry Fielding". The Dorset Page.
• Margaret Drabble, ed. (1985). The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Oxford University Press. pp. 347–348.
• "Henry Fielding (1707–1754)". Books and writers. Retrieved 2009-09-09.
• "History of Henry Fielding (1918)". Yale University Press.
• "Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (I1744)". Stanford University.
• Martin C. Battestin, A Henry Fielding Companion, Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing, 2000, pp. 10, 15.

See Also:

• The Antiquary, A Magazine Devoted to The Study of The Past (Elliot Stock, London, 1880-1915) Vol. 1, Page 53-4
• Wikipedia: Henry_Fielding