Places

This page gives further information about the key places that Southey lived in, visited or was connected to during the period 1791-1815.

• Abbotsford: Walter Scott’s house near Melrose in the Scottish borders, from 1812 until his death in 1832.
• Ambleside: village in the Lake district, Mary Barker lodged near there in 1806. Hartley and Derwent Coleridge attended the school run by John Dawes there.
• Ashestiel: Walter Scott’s home from 1804–1812, it was located near Galashiels in Selkirkshire.
• Balliol: Southey was a student at Balliol College, Oxford in 1792-1794, though he left without taking a degree.
• 25 Bridge St, Westminster: the London residence of Southey and his family from c. November 1801- late January 1802. His mother died there on 5 January 1802.
• Brixton, a village just outside London: the country home of the Bedford family, Southey spent several weeks there in September–October 1793, during which time he wrote the first draft of Joan of Arc.
• Bull and Mouth: an inn in St Martin le Grand, near Smithfield, London, from which coaches and wagons left for Cumbria.
• Burton: village in Hampshire, where Southey stayed in June–September 1797. He returned in October–November 1799 and rented a house found for him by his friend Charles Biddlecombe.
• Christ Church: town, just along the coast from Burton, Hampshire. Southey stayed there briefly in June 1797 and again in October 1799, while supervising renovations to the house he was renting at Burton.
• Cintra [Sintra]: town in Portugal. Southey’s uncle, Herbert Hill, kept a summer home there. Southey visited the house in June–October 1800, calling it ‘a spot the most delightful I have ever yet known’.
• College Green, Bristol: the home of Southey’s aunt, Elizabeth Tyler. He spent several years of his childhood living there and often returned in 1792-1794. In October 1794 Miss Tyler threw Southey out of the house when she learned of his relationship with Edith Fricker and involvement in Pantisocracy.
• Congreve, Staffordshire: the home of Mary Barker. Southey and his wife stopped there on their way to Keswick in August 1803, a journey precipitated by the death of their only child Margaret.
• Cottles: Joseph Cottle’s bookshop in Bristol. This was at 48 High St from April 1791 to March 1798. Cottle then moved to 5 Wine St until financial troubles forced him to close his business in July 1799.
• Crickhowel: small town in Powys. Southey visited it in October 1798 on his walking tour of South Wales with Charles Danvers.
• Crosthwaite Church: the ancient parish church for Keswick, and located very close to Greta Hall. It became the burial place of several members of the Southey family.
• Danvers’s, Kingsdown, Bristol: the home of Southey’s old friend Charles Danvers and his mother. Used by Southey as a postal address on his return to Bristol from Portugal in 1801.
• Dublin: Southey visited the Irish capital for about 10 days in October 1801 at the beginning of his employment as secretary to Isaac Corry.
• Duke St, London: the city home of Isaac Corry, Southey’s employer in 1801–1802.
• Furness Abbey: ruined abbey to the southwest of the Lakes; much admired by Southey and Wordsworth.
• Grasmere (Dove Cottage): home of William Wordsworth and his family, from December 1799 to May 1808.
• Gray’s Inn: Southey sought to qualify as a barrister between 1797 and 1801. This required him to register at one of the Inns of Court and occasionally attend formal dinners there. Southey chose Grays Inn, at the intersection of High Holborn and Grays Inn Road.
• Greta Hall/ Greeta Hall: house on the outskirts of Keswick. From 1800, the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family. Southey and his wife visited in August 1801 and made it their permanent residence from September 1803.
• Holland House: the London home of the Hispanist Lord Holland, and a centre for Whig political, social and cultural life.
• Keswick: market town in the Lake District. From 1800, the home of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his family. Southey and his wife visited in August 1801 and made it their permanent residence from September 1803.
• Kingsdown Parade, Bristol: Southey lived there December 1799–February 1800, close to Charles Danvers.
• 12 Lambs Conduit Street: Southey’s lodgings in London, December 1797–February 1798.
• Llanthony: an estate close to the Welsh-English border, which centred on the ruins of an Augustinian priory. Southey visited in October 1798 on his walking tour of South Wales with Charles Danvers. In 1807 Walter Savage Landor purchased it. He attempted to create a model estate, planting trees, importing merino sheep and improving the roads. His visitors included Southey. A series of disputes with his neighbours, including his tenant Charles Betham, whom Southey had recommended to him, and mounting financial problems led Landor to depart for the continent in early 1814.
• Lodore: a waterfall close to Derwentwater and downstream from Watendlath. It was the subject of Southey’s ‘The Cataract of Lodore’, originally composed for his children and first published in 1823.
• Low Brathay (later named Old Brathay): situated at the north end of Lake Windermere; from 1800–1815 it was the home of Charles and Priscilla Lloyd. Southey and his family visited them there.
• Lowood: an inn on the shore of Windermere.
• Lowther estate: large landed estate close to Penrith. It was the ancestral home of the Lowthers, later Earls of Lonsdale. At its heart was Lowther Castle, built after 1802 by William, Earl of Lonsdale. The Earl and his wife were patrons of the arts, and Southey was their guest on several occasions. In 1823 he published ‘Lines Written in Lady Lonsdale’s Album’.
• Maes Gywn, Neath: house in the Vale of Neath, near Swansea, that Southey attempted – but failed – to rent in autumn 1802.
• Martin Hall: Southey’s name for the house in Westbury, near Bristol, which he rented June 1798–June 1799.
• Merthyr Tidvil [Merthyr Tyfil]: home of George Maber, who was the local Rector. Southey visited him on October 1798 on his walking tour of South Wales with Charles Danvers.
• Mirehouse: home of the Spedding family, on the shore of Bassenthwaite lake.
• Netherhall: the home, near Maryport, Cumbria, of the Senhouses. Southey and members of his family were frequent visitors.
• Norwich: Southey visited William Taylor at his home at Surry St in Norwich May-June 1798.
• Paternoster Row, London: the premises of Southey’s publisher, Longman.
• Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, London: home of Henry Herbert Southey, used by Robert Southey during his stays in London.
• Queen Hithe: home of Thomas Hill, book-collector and part-proprietor of the Monthly Mirror. Southey, who admired Hill’s collection of English poetry, was an occasional visitor.
• Rydal Mount: located between Ambleside and Grasmere, from 1813 onwards it was the home of William Wordsworth and his family.
• 12 St James’s Place, Kingsdown, Bristol: the house, near to Charles Danvers, rented by Southey and his wife from May 1802–August 1803. Their first child, Margaret, was born and died there. Her death prompted them to leave Bristol for good. In future years, Southey only returned on occasional visits.
• Skiddaw: located just north of Keswick, it is the fourth highest mountain in England. A popular place for excursions by the Southeys and their friends, most notably a bonfire held to celebrate the victory at Waterloo in 1815.
• Stafford Row: home, in Pimlico, London, of Grosvenor Bedford.
• Staunton on Wye: Herefordshire village. Southey’s uncle Herbert Hill had been presented to the living there in 1790 by John Hampden-Trevor (1748–1824). Hill was an absentee Vicar and only took up residence in the parish in 1807 on his return from Portugal after the French invasion. He resigned in 1810 when appointed to the living at Streatham.
• Stokes Croft: area of Bristol, north of the city centre. Southey lived there March–April 1800.
• Stowey: the village of Nether Stowey in Somerset. Home of Tom Poole, who found a cottage there for the Coleridge family between 1797 and 1799. Southey visited in August 1799, after his reconciliation with Coleridge.
• 35 Strand, London: the home of Southey and his family from late January until late May 1802.
• Streatham: home from 1810 of Southey’s uncle Herbert Hill, his wife and children. Southey and his family were frequent visitors when in London.
• Teddesley: estate in Penkridge, Staffordshire, owned by Sir Edward Littleton. It was the home of Mary Barker, his companion. After Littleton’s death in 1812, Barker moved to Keswick, where she lived until 1817.
• Ullswater: lake to the east of Keswick, on the shores of which Thomas Clarkson and his wife lived until 1806.
• Westbury: village just outside Bristol. Southey rented a cottage, which he named Martin-Hall, in Westbury between June 1798 and June 1799.
• 8 Westgate Buildings, Bath: the boarding house run by Margaret Southey from 1793 to 1798.
• Wynnstay, near Ruabon, Denbighshire: the home of the Wynn family.
• Yarmouth: town on the Norfolk coast; Southey visited his brother Henry Herbert Southey, who was studying with George Burnett, there in late May 1798.