the Week of Proper 26 / Ordinary 31
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Godwin, William
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
A political writer and novelist, the son of a Presbyterian minister, born at Wisbeach, Somersetshire; was educated for the Church, and was for five years in the ministry; during this period his opinions on politics and religion underwent a radical change, and when in 1787 he threw up his holy office to engage in literature, he had become a republican in the one and a free-thinker in the other; various works had come from his pen, including three novels, before his celebrated "Political Justice" appeared in 1793, "Caleb Williams," a novel, and his best-known work, being published in the following year; in 1797 he married Mary Wollstonecraft (see preceding), who died the same year, and four years later he married a widow, Mrs. Clement; to the close of his long life he was a prolific writer on literary, historical, and political subjects, but his carelessness and lack of business habits left him little profit from all his literary activity; his writings are clear and vigorous in the expression, if visionary and impracticable in theory (1756-1836).
Public Domain.
Wood, James, ed. Entry for 'Godwin, William'. The Nuttall Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​nut/​g/godwin-william.html. Frederick Warne & Co Ltd. London. 1900.