Author: Howitt, William
Biography:
HOWITT, William (1792-1879: ODNB)
A very prolific writer, he was born at Heanor, Derbyshire, to Quaker parents: Thomas Howitt, mine superintendent, and Phoebe (Tantum) Howitt, herbalist. Richard Howitt (q.v.) was his younger brother. He was educated at Ackworth and Tamworth schools before being apprenticed to a cabinet maker. However, he abandoned this in 1813, and began working on his brother’s farm while also writing and publishing poetry. He married Mary Botham (q.v.) in 1821 and, with William working as a chemist to support their growing family, they set up business in Nottingham. William became interested in radical politics and, as the couple developed a reputation as poets, they became friendly with other contemporary writers including Wordsworth. William wrote the entries on Quakerism for the Encyclopedia Britannica, published his Popular History of Priestcraft (1836), was elected an alderman (1835), and helped popularise the “homes and haunts” formula with a series of books about life in the English countryside. The family moved to Esher (Surrey, near London) and then to Heidelberg, Germany, in the early 1840s. Returning to London in 1843, they became Unitarians. In 1847 William launched Howitt’s Journal but, following an unfortunate sequence of financial misadventures, it went bankrupt in 1848—not before it had issued the first publications of Elizabeth Gaskell. He left for Australia with two of their sons in 1852; his Land, Labour, and Gold, or, Two Years in Victoria (1855) was the result. On his 1854 return, the Howitts abandoned Unitarianism for spiritualism. When William began receiving a civil list pension in 1865, they left England for good and divided their time between the Tyrol and Rome. He died at Rome and is buried in Monte Testaccio cemetery. (ODNB 8 Mar. 2019)
Other Names:
- William