William Golding

Birth of William Golding

Sep 19, 1911

William Golding was born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. He was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote. His father, Alex, worked as a schoolmaster.

Early Education and Attempted Novel

1923

William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School. 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.”

Publications of "Poems"

1934

William went on to attend Brasenose College at Oxford University. His father hoped he would become a scientist, but William opted to study English literature instead. In 1934, a year before he graduated, William published his first work, a book of poetry aptly entitled Poems. The collection was largely overlooked by critics.

Teaching Career Begins

1935

Golding worked in settlement houses and the theater for a time. Eventually, he decided to follow in his father’s footsteps. Golding took a position 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.

World War II Service

1946

In 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II. Golding spent the better part of the next six years (1946) on a boat, except for a seven-month stint in New York, where he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research Establishment. While in the Royal Navy, Golding developed a lifelong romance with sailing and the sea.

Publication of "Lord of the Flies"

1954

After 21 rejections, Golding published his first and most acclaimed novel, Lord of the Flies. Riddled with symbolism, the book set the tone for Golding’s future work, in which he continued to examine man’s internal struggle between good and evil. Since its publication, the novel has been widely regarded as a classic, worthy of in-depth analysis and discussion in classrooms around the world.

Retirement from Teaching and A Film Adaptation

1963

Golding retired from teaching, Peter Brook made a film adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel.

Nobel Prize for Literature

1983

Two decades later, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the 1983 Nobel Prize for Literature. In 1988 he was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II. In 1990 a new film version of the Lord of the Flies was released, bringing the book to the attention of a new generation of readers.

Death of William Golding

Jun 19, 1993

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). On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall.

Posthumous Publication

1994

After Golding died, his completed manuscript for The Double Tongue was published posthumously.Among the most successful novels of Golding’s writing career were Rites of Passage (winner of the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize), Pincher Martin, Free Fall and The Pyramid. While Golding was mainly a novelist, his body of work also includes poetry, plays, essays and short stories.