William Makepeace Thackeray was born in Calcutta. His ancestors had made a fortune in the East India Company, and after his father died William was sent to boarding school in England to "be given the education of a gentleman". He was described as a lazy, idle boy; he was flogged and ridiculed. He was happier at Cambridge where he formed an essay club together with a few friends and where he enjoyed the company of Alfred Tennyson and Edward Fitzgerald. He never graduated.