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Birth of William Golding
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. -
William attempts to write a novel.
William attempts, unsuccessfully, to write a novel. He doesn’t succeed, which frustrates him, and makes a bully of him. Later in life, William would describe his childhood self as a brat -
William published his first work
In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems, a work full of poetry. -
William graduated from Oxford
In 1935, he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. -
Started teaching
Started teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury
Observing unruly boys inspirates him for Lord of the Flies. -
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World war II
During World War II, he fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended off submarines and planes. That’s when he “started to see what people were capable off”, as he says himself. -
William married Ann Brookfield
William Golding met his future wife, Anne Brookfield, in 1938. After a brief courtship, they married in 1939, the same year he began teaching English and Philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s school. Anne and Golding had two children; the first, David, born in 1940; and a daughter, Judith, born in 1945. -
William joined Royal Navy
Golding temporarily abandoned teaching to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. He also participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day. -
Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies.
Golding combined that perception of humanity (darkness of man's heart) with his years of experience with schoolboys. Although not the first novel he wrote, Lord of the Flies was the first to be published after having been rejected by 21 publishers. -
The Inheritors was published.
The Inheritors is the second novel by the British author William Golding.It was his personal favourite of his novels and concerns the extinction of one of the last remaining tribes of Neanderthals at the hands of the more sophisticated (and malevolent) Homo sapiens. -
Pincher Martin was published
Pincher Martin: The Two Deaths of Christopher Martin (often referred to simply as Pincher Martin)The novel is one of Golding's best-known novels, and is noted for being uniquely existential and somewhat minimalistic in setting. -
The Brass Butterfly opens in Oxford
The Brass Butterfly, his play starring Alistair Sim and adapted from his story ‘Envoy Extraordinary’, opened in Oxford on 24 February, toured the provinces, and then ran for a month in London. The text of the play was published in July. -
Williams father died
In November, Golding’s father Alec was diagnosed with
cancer, and following an operation to remove the cancer he died suddenly of a heart attack in hospital on 12 December. -
Free Fall was published
Free Fall is the fourth novel of English novelist William Golding, first published in 1959. Written in the first person, it is a self-examination by an English painter, Samuel Mountjoy, held in a German POW camp during World War Two. -
Williams mother died
His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote... -
A film adaptation of Lord of the flies.
In 1963, the year after Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel. -
The Spire was published
The Dean of a cathedral, Jocelin, wants to add a spire to the building, which has no foundations and is therefore a kind of miracle already. The novel is about the second, highly imperfect miracle, the erection of the spire – and the cost, which is financial, physical and spiritual. And it is about creative realisation, bringing the impossible into being. -
The Pyramid was published in book form
The Pyramid describes the experiences of growing up in the 1920s in a small market town in England for the narrator, Oliver. It tells three separate stories from his childhood, resolving them many years later. All three stories end with Oliver seeing the other main character for the last time. -
The Scorpion God was published
The Scorpion God depicts a challenge to primal authority as the god-ruler of an ancient civilization lingers near death.
'Three short novels show Golding at his subtle, ironic, mysterious best.' -
Darkness Visible was published
Darkness Visible was published, winning the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.
The novel narrates a struggle between good and evil, using naïveté, sexuality and spirituality throughout. It marked Golding's re-emergence as a novelist, eight years after the publication of his previous book, the collection The Scorpion God. -
Rites of the passage was published
In the cabin of an ancient, stinking warship bound for Australia, a man writes a journal to entertain his godfather back in England. With wit and disdain he records mounting tensions on board, as an obsequious clergyman attracts the animosity of the tyrannical captain and surly crew. -
the 'Booker Prize'
In 1980 he won the 'Booker Prize' for his novel Rites of Passage, the first book of the trilogy To the Ends of the Earth. -
A moving target was published
A Moving Target is a collection of essays and lectures written by William Golding. -
Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
Golding was awarded this prize for his writing of The Lord of the Flies. Almost two decades after retiring from teaching, this was given. -
Paper men was published
Fame, success, fortune, a drink problem slipping over the edge into alcoholism, a dead marriage, the incurable itches of middle-aged lust. For Wilfred Barclay, novelist, the final, unbearable irritation is Professor Rick. L. Tucker, implacable in his determination to become The Barclay Man. Locked in a lethal relationship they stumble half-blindly across Europe, shedding wives, self-respect, illusions. They confront terrifying abysses - physical, emotional, spiritual - and continua -
An Egyptian journal was published
A first-hand journal about the Goldings' travels through Egypt, soon after winning the Nobel Prize, living on a motor cruiser on the Nile. Nothing went quite as planned, but William Golding's vivid and honest account of what actually happened, and of what he saw and felt about ancient Egypt and the exasperations of the living present, will delight his innumerable admirers and everyone who visits Egypt. -
Close Quarters was published
Close quarters is a sequel to Rites of Passage. Half-way to Australia in a wilderness of heat, stillness and sea mists, a ball is held on a becalmed ship. In this surreal atmosphere the passengers dance and flirt, while beneath them thickets of weed spread over the hull -
William was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II
In the summer of 1988 William Golding was knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. He was particularly struck by two aspects of the process. First, the lowlier the order the more the Queen talked to you. Secondly, she knew in each case why the order was awarded. After tapping him on the shoulder with the sword, she gave him his order and ribbon, and then asked him as she shook his hand, 'And are you still writing?' 'Oh yes, Marm', he re -
Fire down below is published
The final part of Golding's Sea Trilogy. A decrepit man-of-war is on the last stretch of its voyage to Sydney, blown off course and battered by wind, storm and ice. After a risky operation to reset its foremast with red-hot metal, an unseen fire is smouldering below decks. -
New Lord of the Flies movie debut
n 1990, a new adaptation of Golding's novel was introduced. This brought a whole new generation of readers to experience this story. -
To the Ends of the Earth
To the Ends of the Earth is a trilogy of novels by William Golding, consisting of Rites of Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987), and Fire Down Below (1989). -
Death of William Golding
On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. He was survived by his wife and their two children, David and Judith.
