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Historical Figures of the Lake District
Given the astounding splendour of the Lake District's awe-inspiring landscape, it should come as no surprise that the area has long offered great inspiration to many artists and writers that set foot in the area. Hugely affected by the beauty that surrounded them, famous figures, such as William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey and Beatrix Potter drew inspiration from the lakes and fells that you enjoy today.
In this section, we explore a brief overview of each figure's background, their links to the Lake District, as well as any sites of interest worth visiting, so that you can retrace the footsteps of some of the Lake District's most influential and creative icons.
Thomas De Quincey
Thomas De Quincey was an English essayist in the in first half of the nineteenth century who is accredited with making “addiction literature” popular. He spent much of his life addicted to opium, and his most famous essay, Confessions of an English Opium Eater, documents his experiences with the drug.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is perhaps best known for his epic poem: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Despite being plagued with mental illness throughout his life, he can be considered one of English literature’s greatest poets. Together with William Wordsworth and Robert Southey, he inspired the Romanticism movement that would define art and literature in the early 19th century.
Beatrix Potter
Despite being best known for her whimsical children’s tales that featured beloved characters such as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck, and Squirrel Nutkin, Beatrix Potter has a legacy in the Lake District that extends far beyond her delightful stories. Without Beatrix Potter, the Lake District National Park would undoubtedly be very different today.
Arthur Ransome
Arthur Ransome was a complicated figure with an intriguing history. An MI5 agent with links to the Bolshevik revolution, his loyalties have been frequently questioned and pondered. However, he is best remembered for his series of children’s books, “Swallows and Amazons” that were inspired by his childhood holidays in the Lake District.
George Romney
George Romney was a portrait artist in the eighteenth century who was born in Dalton-In-Furness and attended school in Kendal. He is best known for his paintings of his muse, Emma Hamilton, a model who would later become the mistress to Admiral Nelson. His paintings are on display in galleries around the world.
John Ruskin
A writer, critic, painter, social reformer, environmentalist, teacher, and revolutionary thinker, John Ruskin was one of the Victorian greats whose legacy still influences us today. His first visit to the Lake District would have a lifelong impact on this extraordinary man, and he would eventually make the area his final home.
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott was a Scottish novelist and poet whose series of Waverley novels inspired a new genre of literature. A Romanticist, Scott was friends with the Lakes Poets Robert Southey and William Wordsworth, and it was his quest for love that brought him to the Lake District where he met his wife.
William Wordsworth
Born in Cockermouth in 1770, William Wordsworth is considered to be one of the “greats” of English literature. His poetry helped to inspire the Romanticism movement in the UK, and he held the coveted position of Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850. Much of his life was spent in the Lake District, where the beautiful landscapes inspired some of his most famous works.
JMW Turner
Commonly known as “the painter of light”, JMW Turner is one of the UK’s best known artists. His works led to a new appreciation of landscape art, and inspired the likes of Claude Monet and other impressionist artists. He painted several scenes in the Lake District, and today his name is given to one of art’s most prestigious awards.
Alfred Wainwright
If Wordsworth popularised the fells, and Beatrix Potter preserved them, then it is Alfred Wainwright who made them accessible. An accountant by day, Wainwright’s pictorial guides to 214 of the Lake District’s peaks sold millions of copies, bringing fame to a man who simply wanted a quiet life. Today, “bagging a Wainwright” is term frequently used by walkers who have conquered one of those peaks.
Robert Southey
Robert Southey is perhaps best known for being one of the Lakes Poets, alongside William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Despite holding the position of Poet Laureate, and unlike his companions who specialised in poetry, it is Southey’s prose that has earned him the greatest praise.
John Constable
Now considered to be one of England’s most influential painters, John Constable initially struggled to achieve success. He was 52 years old when he was finally admitted into the Royal Academy of Arts. He is best known for his beautiful landscapes, and was influenced by a trip to the Lake District early on in his artistic career.
Fletcher Christian
Righteous hero or villainous mutineer, the jury is still out on Fletcher Christian, leader of the infamous mutiny against Captain William Bligh aboard the HMS Bounty in 1789. Mystery surrounds the Cumbrian-born mutineer’s supposed death, with Lakes Poet William Wordsworth throwing doubt on the official story.
Canon Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley
It’s likely that you have never heard of Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, a former vicar of Windermere who originally heralded from Oxfordshire. However, you have certainly heard of his legacy, for without Canon Rawnsley it is almost certain that there would have been no National Trust, and without the National Trust the Lake District would look very different today.
John Dalton
If you studied atomic theory whilst at school, then you would have already encountered the work of scientist John Dalton. Born just outside of Cockermouth, Dalton pioneered atomic theory, with many of his findings still holding up to scientific rigour today.