Person    | Male  Born 18/9/1709  Died 13/12/1784

Dr Samuel Johnson

Essayist, biographer, lexicographer and speaker of quotes. Born Lichfield, Staffordshire. Left home and travelled to London with David Garrick. "When a man is tired of London he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford." from Boswell's "Life of Johnson". Lived at 17 different addresses, chosen dependent on his finances at the time. Married very happily to Tetty but a widower for a long time. His reported peculiarities have caused some to speculate that he was a sufferer of some obsessive-compulsive disorder and/or Tourette's. In his time was known as "Dictionary Johnson" for his masterpiece, the dictionary of the English language, mainly compiled in the garret at Gough Square. Defining over 42,000 words, It took him and his scribes nearly 9 years to complete. Famously, he defined "lexicographer" as "a harmless drudge". He got the job because, in the words of Adam Smith "he knew more books than any man alive". Established an evening club at the Essex Head in 1783. Died at home at 8 Bolt Court, very close to Gough Square but now demolished. Buried at Westminster Abbey.

House guest of Henry and Hester Thrale for 16 years.

One beneficiary of his will was Francis Barber, a black servant/butler who had been with Johnson from the age of 10 and was present when Johnson died.

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:
Dr Samuel Johnson

Commemorated ati

3 - Johnson’s Court – Dr Johnson’s Dictionary

{A facsimile of a page of Dr Johnson’s Dictionary.} From 1748 to 1759 Dr Joh...

Read More

Anchor / Barclay Perkins Brewery

Johnson was a good friend of the Thrales who owned the Anchor Brewery which o...

Read More

Boswell and Johnson

Greater London Council In this house, occupied by Thomas Davies, bookseller,...

Read More

Dr Samuel Johnson - Johnson's Court

He lived on this site prior to moving to the famous Samuel Johnson's House in...

Read More

Essex Street & Essex Hall

This plaque was first erected at 7 Essex Street in 1962 and then re-erected h...

Read More

Show all 13

This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
Dr Samuel Johnson

Creations i

Buck Hill bastion

This is really an information board rather than a plaque and has a number of ...

Read More

Isaac Watts statue

The quote "Ages unborn..." is presumably from one of Watts' hymns or psalms b...

Read More

Other Subjects

Norman Douglas

Norman Douglas

Writer. Born George Norman Douglas in Thüringen, Austria, the son of a mountaineer and archaeologist. Joined the Foreign Office in 1894 and served in St Petersburg. He settled in Capri, where his c...

Person, Literature, Austria, Italy, Russia

1 memorial
Aubrey Beardsley

Aubrey Beardsley

Illustrator. Born Aubrey Vincent Beardsley at 12 Buckingham Road, Brighton. Diagnosed with tuberculosis at the age of seven and described by his mother as 'like a delicate little piece of Dresden c...

Person, Art, Literature, France

1 memorial
Arthur Clive Heward Bell

Arthur Clive Heward Bell

Known professionally as Clive Bell, he was an art critic and writer who married Vanessa Stephen, sister of Virginia Woolf. His Wikipedia page gives much information about this man. Additionally we...

Person, Literature

2 memorials
Kit-Cat Club

Kit-Cat Club

18th century London club with political (Whig) and literary interests. Tending to the clandestine it met, at different periods, at the Trumpet Tavern, the Fountain Tavern and at Barn Elms. In sum...

Group, Community / Clubs, Literature, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Steven Berkoff

Steven Berkoff

Actor, playwright, author and director.  Born Leslie Steven Berks in Stepney.  After studying at the École Jacques Lecoq in Paris, he founded the London Theatre Group where he directed his own adap...

Person, Cinema, Literature, Theatre, TV & Radio, France

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Swiss Embassy

Swiss Embassy

W1, Bryanston Place, 16 - 18

Designed by the Swiss modernist architect Jacques Schader, this is quite a modest building, and for its date, a pleasant addition to the ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Charles Jellicoe

Charles Jellicoe

Co-executor, with Edwin Bedford, to Mary Gray Ratray who died in 1873. Lived and/or worked at 12 Cavendish Place. In the Madras Catholic Directory and General Annual Register for the Year of our L...

Person, Commerce

1 memorial
Dr William H. Brotherton

Dr William H. Brotherton

Lived in and ran his medical practice from a house at 289, Cambridge Heath Road. BMJ 19 March 1864 reports: "APOTHECARIES' HALL. On March 10th, the following Licentiates were admitted:- Brotherton...

Person, Medicine

1 memorial
V. S. Streater
War dead, WW2
1 memorial
W. Pook
War dead, WW1
1 memorial