}
Thomas Chatterton (1752-1770)
Thomas Chatterton was a young writer and poet from Redcliffe, Bristol.
He sometimes used the pseudonym Thomas Rowley, a fictional 15th Century monk, whose poetry and prose Chatterton claimed to have discovered in a chest in St Mary Redcliffe Church. In reality the writings came from his own imagination. Few people believed they could be the work of a fifteen year old boy so even after the works were deemed modern, the author was disputed for many years.
His work included political satires and anti-slavery poems.
Chatterton died of an arsenic and opium overdose at 17 years old, shortly after moving to London. It is believed that he was taking arsenic as a cure for syphilis, and he was a regular opium user. For many years it was believed to be a suicide but this is now deemed much less likely.
He sometimes used the pseudonym Thomas Rowley, a fictional 15th Century monk, whose poetry and prose Chatterton claimed to have discovered in a chest in St Mary Redcliffe Church. In reality the writings came from his own imagination. Few people believed they could be the work of a fifteen year old boy so even after the works were deemed modern, the author was disputed for many years.
His work included political satires and anti-slavery poems.
Chatterton died of an arsenic and opium overdose at 17 years old, shortly after moving to London. It is believed that he was taking arsenic as a cure for syphilis, and he was a regular opium user. For many years it was believed to be a suicide but this is now deemed much less likely.