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Birth
William Golding was born on September 19, 1911, in Saint Columb Minor, Cornwall, England. -
Early Childhood
William was raised in a 14th-century house next door to a graveyard. His mother, Mildred, was an active suffragette who fought for women's right to vote. His father, Alex, worked as a schoolmaster. -
Education
William received his early education at the school his father ran, Marlborough Grammar School and William Golding was educated there. He later went onto be educated at Brasenose College, Oxford. It was with this college education that he became a teacher and writer. -
His First Published Work
William Golding's debut came in 1934 with the poetry collection Poems. These works had moderately positive feedback but did not solidify him as the writer he is known for today. Some of his most famous quotes come from this book. -
Family Life
He married Ann Brookfield, an analytical chemist, on 30 September 1939. In 1939, Golding met Ann Brookfield at the Left Book Club in London. Both were engaged to other people at the time, and both broke off those engagements to be married a few months later. They had two children together, David (born September 1940) and Judith (born July 1945). -
WW2
During World War II, Golding joined the Royal Navy in 1940. He served on a destroyer which was briefly involved in the pursuit and sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. Golding participated in the invasion of Normandy on D-Day, commanding a landing craft that fired salvoes of rockets onto the beaches. -
lord of the Flies
His experiences as a schoolteacher and fighting in the Royal Navy inspired his first and most successful novel, Lord of the Flies. The novel was difficult to publish because it was seen as a simple adventure story. This novel solidified him as one of the greatest writers of his time and he went on to write more novels. -
Struggle With Fame
Golding had a toxic relationship with alcohol. After his claim to fame he started using alcohol more frequently. Judy Carver notes that her father was "always very open, if rueful, about problems with drink". [25] Golding suggested that his self-described "crisis", of which alcoholism played a major part, had plagued him his entire life. Many believe that he found a way to cope with this later on in his life, others argue that's wishful thinking. -
Knighthood
In the summer of 1988 William Golding was knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace. He was particularly struck by two aspects of the process. First, the lowlier the order the more the Queen talked to you. Secondly, she knew in each case why the order was awarded. -
Death
He died of heart failure on 19 June 1993. His body was buried in the parish churchyard of Bowerchalke near his former home and the Wiltshire county border with Hampshire and Dorset.