Plaque

Oliver Goldsmith - grave

Erection date: 7/4/2004

Inscription

Oliver Goldsmith
Born Pallas Co. Longford, Ireland 1728. Died London 1774. Poet, novelist, playwright. Author of: The Deserted Village; The Vicar of Wakefield; She Stoops to Conquer.

"... who left scarcely any style of writing untouched and touched nothing that he did not adorn" - Samuel Johnson.

Goldsmith died at his home in Middle Temple and was buried in the grounds of the Temple Church.

This plaque was installed following a 2003 visit from members of the Goldsmith Summer School who wanted the grave restored and the site appropriately marked. The 'stretched pyramid' behind the plaque is presumably the same one as that shown in the colour photo (probably late 20th century) at Poets Graves

We've read that Goldsmith's grave monument was destroyed/damaged in an air-raid in 1941. However we found a 1941 photo at Alamy showing rubble from a bomb strike but the stretched pyramid is undamaged. And indeed it seems be the same one in this Historic England photo (1875-95) and this other Historic England one (1900-1930).

Site: John Hiccocks & Oliver Goldsmith (2 memorials)

EC4, Middle Temple, Falcon Court

The Goldsmith plaque is laid into the ground and can be seen towards the lower right of our photo.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Oliver Goldsmith - grave

Subjects commemorated i

Oliver Goldsmith

Author.  Born Co. Longford, Ireland (though it could have been County Roscomm...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Oliver Goldsmith - grave

Also at this site i

John Hiccocks

John Hiccocks

Our Latin consultant, David Hopkins, didn’t find it easy to translate descrip...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Bowler plaque - Book, Children and Eight Pencils

Bowler plaque - Book, Children and Eight Pencils

E1, Brick Lane

The two figures are inspired by the figures shown on the wall relief. These depict the two charity scholar figures that were on the facad...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Brick Lane, Brixton and Soho bombs

Brick Lane, Brixton and Soho bombs

E1, Brick Lane, 25, Police Office

The plaque was unveiled by John Biggs, Mayor of Tower Hamlets and Mark Healey founder of Hate Crime Awareness Week.

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Gavin Ewart

Gavin Ewart

SW15, Lower Richmond Road, Kenilworth Court

Gavin Ewart, 1916 - 1995, noted poet, FRSL, lived at Kenilworth Court. The Putney Society

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Dadabhai Naoroji - Finsbury Town Hall

Dadabhai Naoroji - Finsbury Town Hall

EC1, Rosebery Avenue, Finsbury Town Hall

Silver Tiger has a good post on Naoroji.

1 subject commemorated
Walworth Boy Scouts Tragedy - original memorial

Walworth Boy Scouts Tragedy - original memorial

SE15, Linden Grove, Nunhead Cemetery

The base can be seen in our photo immediately behind the 'open book' which is the replacement memorial.

1 subject commemorated