Person    | Male  Born 10/2/1775  Died 27/12/1834

Charles Lamb

Categories: Literature

Born at 2 Crown Office Row, Inner Temple. Studied at Christ's Hospital where he became friends with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. "Elia" is the pseudonym Lamb used for a series of essays he wrote for the London Magazine and then published in book form, 1821 - 33.

Charles and his sister Mary both experienced periods of insanity but Mary outclassed him. In 1796, aged 32, Mary stabbed and killed their mother with a table knife. Charles, only aged 21, rescued Mary from a life in prison by taking responsibility for her. They lived together for the rest of his life, leading a rich social life in London, moving to Edmonton in 1828.

Prior to her fit of madness Mary had been the chief bread-winner for her family through her industry as a needlewoman. She was clever, creative, responsible, serene and sensible. However their mother always displayed a distinct preference for Charles, leaving Mary emotionally deprived since childhood. After the murder Charles swiftly had Mary confined in a private madhouse in Islington so that her insanity could be established, as a safeguard against judicial punishment. She apparently made a full recovery, of sorts, since, for the rest of her life, she suffered occasional "distempers" and thenceforth "the Lambs never left home without a straitjacket". They moved from Islington to Enfield in 1827 and to Edmonton in 1833 where Charles died at Walden's/Bay Cottage, Church Street. Mary deteriorated and died 12 years later in 1847. Both were buried in Edmonton Churchyard.

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

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Charles Lamb

Commemorated ati

Charles Lamb - 85 Chase Side

The overflow pipe is not part of the memorial.

Read More

Charles Lamb - 89 Chase Side

Charles Lamb lived here October 1829 until May 1833.

Read More

Charles Lamb - EC4

An information map/board gives us "Charles Lamb was born in 2 Crown Office Ro...

Read More

Charles Lamb - Gentleman's Row

The (wooden) plaque adds two years to his life.

Read More

Charles Lamb - Giltspur Street

Ornamental Passions have a good post on this memorial, saying that Lamb is sh...

Read More

Show all 7

Other Subjects

Benjamin Disraeli

Benjamin Disraeli

Born Theobalds Road which at the time was 6 King's Road. Novelist, e.g. Coningsby, Sybil, and Tancred. Tory Prime Minister in 1868 and 1874 - 1880. 1st Earl of Beaconsfield. Clearly an interesting ...

Person, Literature, Politics & Administration, Seriously Famous

6 memorials
Marshal Ferdinand Foch

Marshal Ferdinand Foch

Soldier and writer. Born in Tarbes, Hautes-Pyrénées, France. He enlisted in the French army in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian war. During the First World War he distinguished himself at the battle...

Person, Armed Forces, Literature, France

1 memorial
Arnold Bennett

Arnold Bennett

Born 92 (then 90) Hope Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. The "Five Towns" in his novels are based on this area, "the Potteries" as it was in his youth. Some would have called him a "champagne social...

Person, Literature

3 memorials
Sir Edmund Gosse

Sir Edmund Gosse

Born 13 Trafalgar Terrace (now 56 Mortimer Road), Hackney, son of Philip Gosse. Writer, best known for his book ‘Father and Son’ which is partly autobiographical and depicts the new generation free...

Person, Literature

2 memorials
Radclyffe Hall

Radclyffe Hall

Novelist and poet.  Born as Marguerite Radclyffe Hall in Bournemouth into a wealthy family. From 1917 until her death Hall lived with Una Troubridge but had a number of affairs with other women.  T...

Person, Gender Issues, Literature, Poetry

1 memorial

Previously viewed

London Docklands Development Corporation

London Docklands Development Corporation

We did not initially recognise this logo, on at least 8 plaques in the Surrey Docks area, and maybe others elsewhere. We tried Google's image search and the results made us laugh; being an array of...

Group, History, Property

21 memorials