Find out more about the greatest 18th Century British Writers, including Lord Byron, Jane Austen, William Blake, Thomas Paine and William Wordsworth.
Benjamin Franklin17 January 1706
Founding Father of the United States
Jane Austen16 December 1775
Novelist
Mary Shelley30 August 1797
Novelist
William Blake28 November 1757
Painter
William Wordsworth07 April 1770
Poet
Thomas Paine29 January 1737
Founding Father of the United States
John Keats31 October 1795
Romantic poet
Mary Wollstonecraft27 April 1759
Writer
Edmund Burke12 January 1729
Statesman
Samuel Johnson18 September 1709
Writer
Charles Lamb10 February 1775
Writer & Essayist
William Godwin03 March 1756
Journalist
William Hazlitt10 April 1778
English Writer & Literary Critic
Henry Fielding22 April 1707
Writer
William Cowper26 November 1731
Poet
Oliver Goldsmith10 November 1728
Novelist, Playwright, Poet
John Clare13 July 1793
English poet
Thomas De Quincey15 August 1785
Essayist
Leigh Hunt19 October 1784
English Essayist, Poet & Critic
Frances Burney13 June 1752
Novelist
Samuel Coleridge21 October 1772
Poet and Philosopher
P B Shelley04 August 1792
Poet
Anna Jameson19 May 1794
Writer, Women Rights Activist
Percy Bysshe Shelley04 August 1792
Linguist, Poet, Translator, Writer, Playwright,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge21 October 1772
Poet, Philosopher, Theologian, Writer, Literary
Lady Caroline Lamb13 November 1785
Poet, Writer, Novelist
Robert Liston28 October 1794
Surgeon
Thomas Gray26 December 1716
Poet, Writer, Literary critic
Samuel Richardson19 August 1689
Writer, Novelist
Henry Fuseli07 February 1741
Writer
Isaac Watts17 July 1674
Theologian
Laurence Sterne24 November 1713
Writer, Novelist, Autobiographer, Religious
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William Whewell24 May 1794
Economist, Physicist, Historian, Philosopher,
David Garrick19 February 1717
Actor, Playwright, Film producer, Writer,
Robert Knox04 September 1791
Military physician
Hannah More02 February 1745
Writer, Poet, Essayist
David Brewster11 December 1781
Botanist, Civil engineer, Physicist, Engineer,
Adam Ferguson20 June 1723
Philosopher, Librarian, Historian, Soldier,
Thomas Hood23 May 1799
Writer, Poet
Charles Bell12 November 1774
Anatomist, Neuroscientist, Surgeon, Writer,
William Cullen15 April 1710
Physician, Chemist, Farmer, Academic, University
Thomas Chalmers17 March 1780
Mathematician, Theologian, Writer, University
James Bruce14 December 1730
Explorer, Archaeologist, Film editor, Botanist
Frances Wright06 September 1795
Writer, Philosopher
Anna Seward12 December 1747
Writer, Poet, Literary critic
Sydney Smith03 June 1771
Cleric, Journalist
John Flaxman06 July 1755
Painter, Poet, Sculptor, Illustrator
John Adair18 May 1934
Author
Samuel Foote27 January 1720
Playwright, Impresario, Actor, Stage actor, Writer
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington01 September 1789
Poet, Writer
George Gordon Byron22 January 1788
Poet, Politician
Dr. Samuel Johnson18 September 1709
James Montgomery04 November 1771
Poet
Anne Grant21 February 1755
Poet, Historian
Abraham Tucker02 September 1705
Philosopher, Writer
Robert Pollok19 October 1798
Writer, Poet
Charles Churchill31 January 1731
Poet, Writer
Anna Letitia Barbauld20 June 1743