[NI0256]
NOTE: Many sources quote STC's birth date as October 21, 1772 however other sources including STC himself state that he was born on October 20, 1772. (see birth source material)
Known as "Sam" in the family, a name he grew to dislike with "poignant intensity."
Enlisted in the 15th Dragoons (December 2, 1793) as a Private under the name of Silas Tomkyn Comberbache.
Regimental Muster Roll recorded on Apr. 10, 1794 "discharged S. T. Comberbache, Insane; 10 April, 1794"
(source-Coleridge Early Visions p. 54)
July 23, 1800 - settled at Greta Hall
Dec. 20, 1803 - leaves Greta Hall for nearly two years
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(biography by Bill Gilson)
(1772-1834)
"Critical appraisals of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's life's work usually include the qualification that he failed to live up to his potential. The origins of this notion probably lie as much with Coleridge himself as with his readers: from his earliest years as a writer he repeatedly coupled forecasts of grand achievements with reminders of what he called his 'constitutional indolence.' Coleridge was one of the most gifted and learned men of his time, and, while it is true that he never produced the philosophical magnum opus that he repeatedly promised, the sheer volume, depth, and wide-rangingness of his work hardly qualify him as a failure. Born the son of a school headmaster, Coleridge was by his own account an odd boy -- temperamental, bad at sports, a voracious reader. He went to Cambridge, where for about a year he did well, but then he left (in 1793) suddenly to enlist in the 15th Light Dragoons under the name Silas Tomkyn Comberbache. His family bought him out of that mistake. During a period of enthusiasm (1794) for a scheme involving a projected, but never realized, utopian settlement (pantisocracy) on the Susquehanna River in America -- Coleridge married (Sarah Fricker in 1795) though this union resulted in four children, it was essentially a failure, and for most of their lives Coleridge and his wife lived apart. In 1796 he published Poems on Various Subjects, and two years later, when he was 27, he and William Wordsworth together brought out Lyrical Ballads. Sometime during his late 20's Coleridge began using opium. Plagued even as a young man by a variety of ailments, he at first found in the drug a relief from pain, but the resulting addiction became a curse that he struggled against for the rest of his days. Coleridge never really solved the problem of earning a living. He spent a number of years in the Lake District, largely because of his good friend Wordsworth; he lived in the southwest of England; he worked for two years for the English government in; he worked as a journalist in London; he wrote plays, poetry, philosophy, literary criticism, political analysis, theology and he made translations; but almost everywhere he lived and in spite of how much he wrote, he again and again had to draw on the generosity of friends in order to make ends meet. In 1816 and in declining health and loosing the fight against opium, he went to live at the home of Dr. James Gillman of Highgate; under Gillman's care he passed the last eighteen years of his life in relative security. Always a great talker, renowned for his long, amazingly learned monologues, Coleridge in his final years attracted numerous young disciples, who treked to Highgate to listen to him. Work without Hope was first published in 1828 in the magazine, Bijou."
Highgate was the home of Dr. James Gillman where Coleridge spent his last days.
He is buried in a churchyard close to the house of Gillman in London (Highgate Cemetery)
"Coleridge was buried in Highgate, in a vault next to Highgate School, on August 2, 1834. Henry and Edward Coleridge attended, as did Green and James Gillman junior, whose father was too ill to go. John Sterling came from Cambridge. The vault filled up, in due course, with other family members: Henry Nelson Coleridge in 1843, Coleridge's unfortunate wife in 1845, his beloved daughter in 1852, and her brilliant son Herbert in 1861." source: The Life of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Rosemary Ashton, p. 406
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (1772-1834), English poet, critic, and philosopher, who was a leader of the romantic movement.
Coleridge was born in Ottery Saint Mary. He attended Jesus College, University of Cambridge, but he left Cambridge without a degree. In 1795 Coleridge began a lifelong friendship with the poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy. Together, the two men published Lyrical Ballads (1798), which contained the first great works of the romantic school, including Coleridge's famous "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Among other Coleridge poems were "Kubla Khan," "Christabel," "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison," "Frost at Midnight," and "The Nightingale."
In 1798 Coleridge and Wordsworth went to the Continent. Coleridge stayed primarily in Germany, where he became interested in German philosophy. By this time Coleridge had become addicted to opium, a drug he used to ease the pain of rheumatism. In 1800 he returned to England, and between 1808 and 1819, he gave his famous series of lectures on literature and philosophy, including his famous lectures on English playwright William Shakespeare. In 1816 Coleridge, still addicted to opium and estranged from his family, took residence in the London home of physician James Gillman. There he wrote his major prose work, Biographia Literaria (1817) and other works.
Coleridge is recognized today as a lyrical poet and literary critic of the first rank. His treatises, lectures, and compelling conversational powers made him perhaps the most influential English literary critic and philosopher of the 19th century.
Time Line
1772
Coleridge born at Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, youngest of the ten children of the Reverend John and Ann Coleridge
1782
Enrolled at Christ's College School, London
1791
Enrolled at Jesus College, Cambridge
1793
Enlisted in the 15th Light Dragoons under name of Silas Tomkyn Comberbache
1794
Met Robert Southey; planned a pantisocratic community in America
The Fall of Robespierre
1795
Political lectures in Bristol.
1796
Published a political journal, The Watchman.
Poems on Various Subjects
1798
Fears in Solitude
Published Lyrical Ballads with Wordsworth
visited Germany
1799
First visit (with Wordsworth) to the Lake District
Met Sara Hutchinson
1800
Translated Wallenstein
Moved to Keswick
1803
Poems
1804-06
leaves in 1804
Went to Malta, where he served as secretary to the British High Commissioner
1808-1810
Lives mostly with the Wordsworths at Grasmere
June, 1809 to March, 1810
The Friend
1810
Moved to London
1813
Remorse opened at Drury Lane Theatre
1816
Moved into Dr. Gillman's house, Highgate
Christabel
The Stateman's Manual
1817
Lay Sermon
Biographia Literaria
Sibylline Leaves
Zapolya
1818
"Treatise on Method" in Encyclopedia Metropolitana
1825
Aids to Reflection
1829
On the Constitution of Church and State
1834
Death
source: http://vicu.utoronto.ca/library/special/coleridg.htm