News / Kingsdown
Goldilocks creator remembered at former Bristol home
A blue plaque was unveiled on Kingsdown Parade on Monday in commemoration of the writer and Poet Laureate, Robert Southey.
Born in Bristol in 1774, Southey and his wife’s first house together was on the picturesque street, where they lived from 1802 to 1803.
Thanks to the work of Bristol Civic Society, the plaque has been placed above the front gate of number 87 in the late poet’s honour.
is needed now More than ever
The current owner of Southey’s house (left) unveiling the plaque alongside Professor Robin Jarvis (right) of UWE Bristol
As a poet, historian, biographer and essayist, Southey is considered a highly influential writer whose major works include the children’s tale The Story of the Three Bears published in 1837.
However, despite being England’s Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death in 1843, he is not as recognisable as his contemporaries and close friends William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
Following the consecutive deaths of his mother, cousin and daughter, Southey moved from Bristol in 1803 and lived with Coleridge in Keswick in the Lake District for the rest of his life.
Professor Robin Jarvis works for an online course at UWE Bristol that studies Southey’s works
“Bristol is where Southey first made his name as a writer and produced his first volume of poetry,” said Robin Jarvis, professor of English literature at UWE Bristol who on Monday also launched a new online course which includes the study of Southey’s works.
“He was a radical figure and a supporter of the French Revolution, and the fact that he lived here for his first 30 years makes his more commonly known links to the Lake District misleading.”
Southey’s original birthplace on Wine Street no longer exists but there is a plaque in place close to where his home once stood as as well as a bust of him at Bristol Cathedral.
The original Robert Southey plaque is placed close to his birthplace on Wine Street
Southey’s bust inside Bristol Cathedral
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