Poet and critic. Born near Goole, Yorkshire. Considered a great English critic, his best-known work is his first publication "Seven Types of Ambiguity" 1930. Married Hetta in 1941 and had two sons, but was probably bisexual and an alcoholic. Spent a lot of his married life away from the London home, in Sheffield where he was chair of English literature at the university. Died at home, Studio House, 1 Hampstead Hill Gardens. (Did you notice how we managed not to mention the beard?)
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Sir William Empson
Commemorated ati
Sir William Empson
Unveiled by Sir Williams’ son, Jake Empson. At no 71 Empson lived in the the...
Other Subjects
Alexander Pope
Poet. Born Lombard Street. A childhood illness left him only 4 and a half feet tall, hunchbacked, crippled and with chronic pain. Best known for his satirical poems. Also a wit: "And all who told...
5 memorials
Robert Browning
Poet and playwright. Born Camberwell. His works include ‘Home Thoughts from Abroad’ and ‘The Pied Piper of Hamelin’. He fell in love with Elizabeth Barrett and married her secretly because of her ...
7 memorials
Vivian Forbes
Painter and poet. Born London. Served in the Royal Fusiliers in WW1. Had a close relationship with Glyn Philpot and on Philpot's death, Forbes died by suicide, the day after the funeral. The pict...
1 memorial
Khalil Gibran
Lebanese American artist, poet, and writer. Born in what is now Lebanon, emigrated as a young man with his family to US. Best known for The Prophet, 1923, popular in the 60s.
1 memorial
Lord Alfred Douglas
Journalist and poet. Son of the Marquess of Queensbury and lover of Oscar Wilde. Known as Bosie (a nickname given to him by his mother as a derivation of 'boysie'). After Wilde's release from priso...
1 memorial
Previously viewed
Mappin and Webb, Poultry
12 - 13 Poultry. Built in 1870, designed by J. & J. Belcher. Was demolished after a long campaign in 1994 to make way for the delights of Number 1, Poultry. The man responsible, Lord Palumbo, ...
2 memorials
Ada Van Dantzig
Dantzig was a Dutch Jew who came to London to study. She returned to the Netherlands intending to help her family flee the Nazis. Instead she was captured and killed in Auschwitz, with most of her ...
War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
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