Person    | Male  Born 28/11/1757  Died 12/8/1827

William Blake

Categories: Art, Poetry, Seriously Famous

Poet and artist. Except for 3 years spent on the coast near Bognor, Blake lived his whole life in London, making his living as an engraver. Born at 28 Broad Street, now Broadwick Street (the memorial being in Marshall Street). 1782 married Catherine.

Wrote Jerusalem in his rooms in South Molton Street, the only one of his London homes to survive, other homes being: 28 Broad Street W1; Green Street, near Leicester Square (briefly, no plaque); 28 Poland Street (no plaque);  Hercules Road SE1; 3 Fountain Court at the Strand where he lived his last 7 years and died a poor man. See Tate's William Blake's London for more details.

His friend George Richmond closed Blake's eyes "to keep the vision in". Buried in Bunhill Fields Dissenters' Burial Ground. This was damaged during WW2 and restored in 1960 by which time the precise location of Blake's remains had been forgotten, or at least lost in the archives.

In 2007 there is a campaign to re-mark the grave and to build a monument to this truly great Londoner. And 2018: iNews reports that a new gravestone, in the correct location, will be unveiled in August.

The Blake Archive web site, given as the Picture Source is a magnificent site.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
William Blake

Commemorated ati

Bunhill burial ground - 2

In this ground are the vaults of {see the Subjects commemorated for the list ...

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Linnell & Blake

Greater London Council John Linnell, 1792 - 1882, painter lived here. Wil...

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Spirit of Soho Mural

Interesting that Coca Cola are specifically mentioned on the panel but not as...

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William Blake - SE1

The shield with the red crosses is from the Coat of arms of the City of Londo...

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William Blake - SE1 - lost plaque

This plaque, shown in both this drawing (by Adcock from Culture 24) and the p...

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This section lists the memorials created by the subject on this page:
William Blake

Creations i

British Library - Newton

Bronze, 12 foot high (and he's sitting down).  Via Facebook Henri Hudson has ...

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Iolo Morganwg

The plaque of Anglesey Stone designed and carved by Morris was unveiled at mi...

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Start of the third Millennium in Belgrave Square

The poetry is from "Auguries of Innocence" by William Blake.For other armill...

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Other Subjects

National Gallery of Ireland

National Gallery of Ireland

Located in Merrion Square West, Dublin. The engineer William Dargan, wanting to emulate the Crystal Palace Exhibition of 1851, set up an art exhibition in a series of pavilions. Such was its succes...

Building, Art, Ireland

1 memorial
William Cleverly Alexander

William Cleverly Alexander

A wealthy banker and art collector, who bought Aubrey House in 1873 for about £15,000. He was an important patron of Whistler. He died when he fell down the stairs of his country home Heathfield Ho...

Person, Art, Benefactor

1 memorial
Stephen Pearce

Stephen Pearce

Portrait and equestrian painter. Our picture source gives a biography of his life. He was born on 16 November 1819, the son of Stephen Pearce (1780-1850) and Anne Pearce née Whittington (1778-1871...

Person, Art

1 memorial
Robert Seymour

Robert Seymour

Illustrator.  Born Somerset.  In November 1835 Seymour, a successful illustrator, aged 38, known for comic sporting prints suggested to the publishers Chapman and Hall a project, a series of illust...

Person, Art, Tragedy

1 memorial
Jane Loudon

Jane Loudon

Author and pioneer of science fiction. Born near Birmingham as Jane Webb. Wrote "The Mummy!: Or a Tale of the Twenty-Second Century" and published it in 1827, anonymously. This was reviewed favour...

Person, Art, Gardens / Agriculture, Literature

1 memorial

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George Skanderbeg

George Skanderbeg

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Person, Nationalism, Politics & Administration, Balkans

1 memorial
Hearts of Oak Benefit Society

Hearts of Oak Benefit Society

National Archives gives: "It was on 20th June 1842 that twelve members of a Provident Society met at the Bird-in-Hand Tavern, 17 Long Acre, with the intention of establishing their own Society. Thi...

Group, Social Welfare

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Elizabeth Colecott
War dead non-military, WW2
1 memorial
World War 2

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do visit the picture source web site - it has a fascinating collection of maps.  And we enjoyed these photos of current WW2 ev...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

378 memorials
Alfies Antique Market

Alfies Antique Market

Bennie Gray bought Jordan's department store and founded Alfie's Antique Market, naming it after his father. Alfies Antiques gives the size as 30,000 sq.ft.  The 2016 photo shows that today's (202...

Place, Commerce

1 memorial