Facts about Alfred Lord Tennyson

Summary: Alfred Tennyson was a man with strong feelings and emotions that he was able to transcribe to paper.

He was appointed Poet Laureate, a position he would hold for a large part of his life, as well as that of the reign of Queen Victoria, who it would be that insisted he accept a baronetcy that he had previously refused.

Several of his most famous lines that have become commonly used today include “Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all” and “Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die”.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact Sheet: Who was Alfred Tennyson? The following short biography and fact sheet provides interesting facts about the life, times and history of Alfred Tennyson.

Alfred Tennyson Fact File: Lifespan: 1809 - 1892 *** Full Name: Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson *** Occupation: Poet Laureate *** Date of Birth: Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6th 1809 *** Place of Birth: Alfred Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England *** Family background: His father was George Clayton Tennyson was the rector of Somersby as well as for Benniworth and Bag Enderby and was the vicar of Grimsby and his mother was Elizabeth Fytche the daughter of a vicar. Due to his father’s astuteness with money the family were reasonably well off *** Early life and childhood: He grew up with many siblings and spent summers in Skegness and Mablethorpe situated on the east coast of England *** Education: Alfred Tennyson attended Louth Grammar School, Scaitcliffe School and King Edward VI Grammar School. He went on to attend Trinity College, Cambridge where he became a member of the Cambridge Apostles ***

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 1: Alfred Tennyson was born on August 6th 1809 and during the 19th century period in history when many empires across the globe collapsed, the Spanish, first and second French, Holy Roman, Mughal and Chinese but the British and Russian Empires, the United States and German Empire where on the rise.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 2: One of his first pieces of work got him awarded with the Chancellor’s Gold Medal. The piece was “Timbuktu” which he wrote in 1829.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 3: In 1830 he published his first collection of poems call Poems Chiefly Lyrical which included “Claribel” and “Mariana”.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 4: In 1831 Alfred’s father died which meant he had to leave Cambridge before completing his degree and he returned to his home where he, his mother and siblings were allowed to continue living for the next six years.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 5: Two years later he had published his next book.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 6: A dear friend he had made while attending Cambridge and who had stayed with the family during the summer after the death of Tennyson’s father and who had also come to be engaged to Tennyson’s sister Emilia, Arthur Hallam, suddenly died while on a vacation in Vienna. His death would have a deep and profound effect on Tennyson and which would inspire some of his most heartfelt work including “In the Valley of Cauteretz” and “In Memoriam A.H.H.”.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 7: Eventually the family would have to move from the rectory and they took up residence in High Beach in Essex while Tennyson would eventually move to London.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 8: By 1842 he had published two further volumes, one including work previously published and the other of new material.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 9: By 1850 he published his finest work ever in the form of In Memoriam A.H.H. which was dedicated to his dearest friend, Arthur Hallam.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 10: Later in 1850 he would be chosen as Poet Laureate a position previously held by William Wordsworth.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 11: In June of that year he married. Emily Sellwood he had known since they were children. They were married in Shiplake and would go on to have two sons, Hallam and Lionel.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 12: During 1853 they rented a property on the Isle of Wight and in 1856 they purchased the property although he would find himself frequently accosted while in residence so bought a property in Aldworth, West Sussex. He kept the property on the Isle of Wight and often spent winters there.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 13: After the death of William Wordsworth, Tennyson would again be appointed Poet Laureate and would hold this position until his own death.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 14: One of his greatest pieces written was the “The Charge of the Light Brigade” a vivid tribute to the cavalry men of the British forces during the Crimean War.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 15: Having been offered a baronetcy on more than one occasion it was not until Queen Victoria insisted he accept the peerage that he finally did. Queen Victoria bestowed upon him the baronetcy of Aldworth in the County of Sussex and of Freshwater in the Isle of Wight and in 1884 he would take his seat in the House of Lords.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 16: As far as his work was concerned he was a perfectionist, he would repeatedly edit his material until he was completely satisfied to the point where a Robert Browning described his efforts as “insane”.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 17: So much of his heart and soul was poured into his work, he was once described as “the saddest of all English poets” by T. S. Eliot.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 18: Tennyson’s eyesight had given him difficulty for many years, which made reading and writing particularly difficult but he could not even eat without a monocle to see with. Much of his work was composed in his head, often over many years.

Alfred Lord Tennyson Fact 19: On October 6th 1892 Alfred Tennyson died at the age of eighty three years at Lurgashall in Sussex, England. His body laid to rest in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey, London.

Influence and Legacy: His legacy are the volumes of poetry he had left for the world to enjoy.