Engraving by R. Page after Henry Edridge, 18th century. Courtesy The Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library.
Robert Southey was born in Bristol on 12 August 1774. He was the eldest surviving child of a linen draper, also named Robert Southey, and his wife Margaret (née Hill). An older brother, John Cannon, had died as an infant in 1773 and only three of Robert’s seven younger siblings (Thomas [b. 1777], Henry Herbert [b. 1783] and Edward [b. 1788]) survived to adulthood. Distanced from his younger brothers by age, Southey also spent a large part of his childhood apart from them, living with his mother’s elder, unmarried half-sister, Elizabeth Tyler. One of her friends was married to John Newbery, the publisher of children’s literature, and Southey was
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Citation: Pratt, Lynda. "Robert Southey". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2004 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4160, accessed 22 November 2024.]
