William Golding

By rayaankhirfan

  • Golding was born

    Golding was born
    Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England.

  • Golding attempted to write a book but was unsuccessful

    Golding attempted to write a book but was unsuccessful
    When William was just 12 years old, he attempted, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. A frustrated child, he found an outlet in bullying his peers. Later in life, William would describe his childhood self as a brat, even going so far as to say, “I enjoyed hurting people.”

  • Golding went to Marlborough Grammar School

    Golding went to Marlborough Grammar School
    William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School.

  • Golding started teaching

    Golding started teaching
    William Golding began teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury. Golding’s experience teaching unruly young boys would later serve as inspiration for his novel Lord of the Flies.

  • Golding served in the royal navy

    Golding served in the royal navy
    Golding spent the better part of the next six years on a boat, except for a seven-month stint in New York, where he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. During World War II, he fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended off submarines and planes. Lieutenant Golding was even placed in command of a rocket-launching craft.

  • Golding published first book

    Golding published first book
    In 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. Lord of the Flies explored the savage side of human nature as the boys, let loose from the constraints of society, brutally turned against one another in the face of an imagined enemy.

  • Golding's last years

    Golding spent the last few years of his life quietly living with his wife, Ann Brookfield, at their house near Falmouth, Cornwall, where he continued to toil at his writing. The couple had married in 1939 and had two children, David (b. 1940) and Judith (b. 1945).

  • Golding's death

    On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. After Golding died, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.