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Birth
William Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. Mildred, his mother, fought for women’s right to vote. Alex, his father, worked as a schoolmaster. -
Education
William went to Brasenose College at Oxford University, after primary school. William studied English literature, although his father wanted him to become a scientist. He published his first work a year before graduating. -
Married
William got married in 1939. He married Ann Brookfield. They later had two children. -
During the war
William fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck. He fended off submarines and planes. He was a lieutenant placed in command of a rocket-launching craft. -
The Royal Navy
William temporarily abandoned his profession of teaching to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. He next six years on a boat. He also assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment during his seven month stint in New York. His son David was born. -
After the war
Things from the war became material for his fiction. World War II had ended in 1945. William went back to writing and teaching and his daughter Judith was born. -
Lord of the Filies
William published Lord of the Flies in 1954 after 21 rejections. The novel is widely regarded as a classic. This book set the tone for William’s future work -
Retired Life
A year after William retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of Lord of the Files. Two decades after this William would be awarded a Noble Peace Prize. He would also be knighted a few years after being awarded. -
Writing
William wrote many successful novels. One being Rites of Passage. It won the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize. -
Death
William spent the last few years of his life in near Falmouth, Cornwall. He died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. His completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published after his death.