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Birth
Born in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. -
Early life
William was born of September 19th 1919 in Cornwall, England. He was raised by his mother and father in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. -
School
He studied at Marlborough Grammar School School, the school his father ran. At the age of 12, William found an outlet in bullying his peers after unsuccessfully trying to write a novel. -
College
Golding began attending Brasenose College at Oxford in 1930 and spent two years studying science, in order to satisfy his fathers wishes. However, his third year, he switched to the literature program. A range of Goldings poems were Macmillan's Contemporary Poets series. -
Graduation
In 1935, he graduated from Oxford with a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in education. -
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Work
From 1935 to 1939, he worked as a writer, actor, and producer with a small theater. -
Teaching
In 1939 Golding took a position teaching English and philosophy at Bishop Wordsworth’s School in Salisbury. -
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Royal Navy and World War ll
However, in 1940 Golding temporarily abandoned the profession to join the Royal Navy and fight in World War II.He spent the next 5 to 6 years of his life on a boat and met his life long romance. Golding had a seven-month stint in New York where he assisted Lord Cherwell at the Naval Research. During the war, he was assigned to fight battleships, and also fend off submarines and planes. In 1945, after World War II had ended, Golding went back to teaching and writing. -
"Lord of the Flies" published
After trying with publishers 21 times, in the year 1954, Golding succesfully published his most known novel, "Lord of the Flies". -
"Lord of the Flies" the movie
It was a total hit, and in 1963 Peter Brook made a film adaptation based on the novel. -
McConell Prize
"Rites of Passage" won the 1980 Booker McConnell Prize -
Novel Prize
In 1983, at the age of 73, Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. -
Knighted
In 1988 he was knighted by England’s Queen Elizabeth II. -
New Film Version
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
On June 19, 1993, Golding died of a heart attack in Perranarworthal, Cornwall.