6 August 1809: Alfred, Lord Tennyson is born

Have you ever used the phrase ‘airy-fairy’? Now used as a derogatory term for something light and insubstantial, it can be traced back to Tennyson’s use of it in one of his early poems, Lilian (1830). The first line reads: ‘Airy, fairy Lilian…’

Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson, was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria‘s reign and is one of the most acclaimed poets in English Literature.

Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, England on 6 August 1809. He was the fourth of 12 children of a successful middle-class family of minor landowning status. His father, George Clayton Tennyson, was an Anglican clergyman and his mother, Elizabeth was the daughter of a vicar. Tennyson’s father kept a large library and took care to educate his children.

Tennyson and two of his elder brothers were writing poetry in their teens and a collection of poems was published when Alfred was only 17. Despite his intelligence and good looks, Tennyson he was excessively shy and was quite unhappy when he attended university. He joined the “Apostles,” an informal undergraduate literary club which gave him friendship and confidence as a poet. In 1829 he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry.

In 1831 Tennyson’s father died, leaving his family in a bleak economic situation. His grandfather made financial arrangements for the family, but it was insufficient to support his studies, and he left without a degree. Afterward, Tennyson lived quietly with his family at Somersby, spending time working on his poems and engaging in various outdoor sports and activities.

In 1836, Alfred Tennyson became involved with Emily Sellwood, daughter of their family solicitor. Although they considered themselves engaged by 1837, due to Tennyson’s financial condition and the frequent trances that he lapsed into, which he thought was due to epilepsy, he broke it off by 1840. They again resumed communication in 1849, finally getting married in the middle of June 1850.

By the age of 41, Tennyson had established himself as the most popular poet of the Victorian era.

Alfred Tennyson died on 6 October 1892, at Aldworth, at the age of 83, and was buried at Westminster Abbey.