Wordsworth Family & Homes

William Wordsworth , one of the well known English romantic age poets, was born in the lovely market town of Cockermouth on April 7, 1770. Wordsworth's father was a lawyer named John Wordworth. His mother died when he was eight, and Wordsworth formed a close bond to his sister, Dorothy Wordsworth, a well known poet and diarist in her own right. After travelling widely Wordsworth and Dorothy moved back to England, to Dove Cottage at Rydal Mount in Grasmere. At the age of 25,Wordsworth met and became friends with Samuel Taylor Coleridge , another famous Lakeland poet. During the following years, Wordsworth and Coleridge spent time writing, discussing and offering critiques of each other’s poetic works. Together with Robert Southey the trio came to be known as the "Lake Poets". After his friend Southey died, Wordsworth became the Poet Laureate. However, when his daughter, Dora, died in 1847, Wordsworth completely ceased writing poetry. He died three years later  on April 13, 1850 and is buried with other close members of his family in Ambleside churchyard. At the time of his death, many people considered him the greatest poet in the world. His masterpiece is thought to be The Prelude, an autobiographical poem of his early years. He revised and expanded it a great many times during his lifetime but it was only published several months after his death.