Wordsworth, William

The English poet William Wordsworth was born in Cumberland as the son of a lawyer, but lost his parents at an early age. He studied at Cambridge, and in the 1790s he spent long periods in France where he was initially caught up in the revolutionary spirit, but later disenchanted because of the revolutionaries' violent methods. He became financially independent in 1795 when he received a legacy of 900 pounds and was able to dedicate his time to writing poetry. Wordsworth settled in the Lake District in northeast England together with his devoted sister Dorothy. The landscape and people of Cumbria was a major source of inspiration throughout his career. Wordsworth fathered a daughter in France before he married his childhood friend Mary Hutchinson in 1802. He was at his most productive between 1797 and 1807, and was made Poet Laureate in 1843.