Oliver Goldsmith

Irish poet, dramatist and essayist, Oliver Goldsmith was born either in Pallas, County Longford or Elphin, Roscommon. He was the second son of an Anglican clergyman, and spent much of his childhood at Lissoy which he drew on when writing The Deserted Village. He had a severe attack of smallpox at the age of eight which left him badly disfigured for life. In 1744 he went as a sizar to Trinity College, Dublin, ran away in 1746, but returned to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1749. After several false starts in choosing a career, a generous uncle sent him in 1752 to Edinburgh University to study medicine. Instead of taking a degree he travelled throughout Europe, from which travels he drew on in The Vicar of Wakefield (1766). In 1756 he returned destitute to London,and practised as a physician in Southwark and as an usher in Peckham. He corrected proofs for Samuel Richardson and drifted into the profession of hack writer for Ralph Griffiths proprietor of the Monthly Review. In...

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