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Early Life
William was raised by his mother, Mildred, who was an active suffragette, and his father Alex, who was a school master. William received education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School. After primary school William attended Brasenose College at Oxford University, where he studied English literature. -
Teaching
After college, Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. Although passionate about teaching from day one, in 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War 2. -
Royal Navy
Golding spent the next 6 years on boats where he developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea. During World War II, Lieutenant Golding fought battleships at the sinking of the Bismarck, and also fended off submarines and planes. In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing. -
First Novel
In 1954, after 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. This novel told the gripping story of a group of adolescent boys stranded on a deserted island after a plane wreck. Since its publication, the novel has been widely regarded as a classic, worthy of in-depth analysis and discussion in classrooms around the world. Two decades later, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1990 the novel became a film. -
Death and Legacy
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. On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall. While Golding was mainly a novelist, his body of work also includes poetry, plays, essays and short stories.