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William Wordsworth and the Lake District go hand in hand, with links to the great poet to be found in Grasmere, Hawkshead, Penrith, Cockermouth, and the fells surrounding Ullswater, Borrowdale and the Duddon Valley.
William Wordsworth was born in Cockermouth on 7 April 1770, one of four brothers and a sister, Dorothy. Wordsworth's father was agent and lawyer for Sir John Lowther, a local landowner, and as such the family were financially comfortable. The Wordsworth children spent much of their time in Penrith, staying with their grandparents, and William attended infant school in the town (it was at this school that he first met Mary Hutchinson, who was later to become his wife). Sadly, Wordsworth's mother, Ann, died at the age of 30 in 1778, and the family subsequently split up. Young Dorothy was sent to live with relations in Yorkshire, while William was sent to the respected grammar school in Hawkshead. At school in Hawkshead William flourished, thriving on the encouragement he received from the headmaster to read and write poetry, and he stored up his experiences of country walks, climbing, fishing and dancing, all of which later formed the basis for much of his most celebratd work.
In 1787, after finishing school, Wordsworth went to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was to study to become a clergyman. However, William abandoned his studies and left Cambridge in 1790 without distinction and with no prospect of being ordained. After spending some time in France, Wordsworth and his sister, Dorothy, moved to Dorset in 1795, where William became acquainted with Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey.
The pull of the Lake District proved too difficult to resist, and in 1799 William and Dorothy moved to Grasmere, in search of the beautiful and natural surroundings that would aid Wordsworth's poetry. They first moved to Dove Cottage, staying in the former inn until 1808. During their time at Dove Cottage, William established himself as a major poet, while Dorothy kept her famous journal, recording her daily life at the cottage, and her observations of the local people and landscape prompted some of William's best-loved work.
Wordsworth's financial position improved to the extent that, in 1802, he was able to marry Mary Hutchinson, his childhood friend from Penrith. William and Mary had several children - John, Dorothy (known as 'Dora'), Thomas, Catherine and William, though, sadly, both Catherine and Thomas died as infants in 1812. As the family grew, Dove Cottage proved too small to remain comfortable, especially as Mary's sister, Sara Hutchinson, and Coleridge were both permanent fixtures in the house. After brief periods in Allan Bank and the Old Rectory (both in Grasmere), the Wordsworths finally settled in Rydal Mount in 1813. William was to spend the rest of his life in this gracious house just north of Ambleside.
William's strong views on nature and the Lake District led to him producing his own 'Guide to the Lakes', which was first published anonymously in 1810. Ironically, the popularity of the book kindled much interest in Lakeland, advertising to a wide audience the charms of the region which he was keen to preserve.
When Robert Southey died in 1843, Wordsworth was made Poet Laureate. Just 7 years later, in 1850, William caught a cold and died on St. George's Day, 23 April, aged 80. Wordsworth was buried in St. Oswald's churchyard in Grasmere, to be later joined by sister Dorothy in 1885 and his wife, Mary, in 1889.