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Robert Southey was born in Bristol on 12 August 1774. He was educated at schools in Corston and Bristol before being sent to Westminster School in 1788. He entered Balliol College, Oxford in 1792 after he was expelled from Westminster for denouncing flogging in a school magazine, The Flagellant. In 1794 Southey wrote the play that belied his then republican spirit, Wat Tyler. The play was published without Southey's consent in 1817. By then Southey had become a supporter of the Tory government.
In 1795 Southey journeyed to Spain and Portugal. That year saw the publication of his epic poem Joan of Arc. On his return to England in 1797, Southey entered Gray's Inn, London, but only for a brief period, before moving to Westbury in June 1798 and then to Burton, Hampshire in 1799. He was appointed secretary to Isaac Corry, the chancellor of the Irish exchequer c 1801. In 1803 Southey moved to Greta Hall, Keswick where he stayed with his family for the remainder of his life.
In 1809 Robert Southey joined the staff of the Quarterly Review and wrote regularly for the periodical until 1839. From 1809 to 1815 he edited and principally wrote the Edinburgh Annual Register. Southey wrote several books including, The Book of the Church Vindicated (1824), Sir Thomas More (1829) and Lives of the British Admirals (1833). Southey was appointed Poet Laureate in 1813. To commemorate the death of King George III in 1821, he wrote his poem A Vision of Judgement. In 1820 the University of Oxford created Southey DCL and in June 1826 he was elected MP for Downton, Wiltshire, but was disqualified for not possessing the necessary estate. Southey died in Keswick on 21 March 1843.