Samuel Johnson was born in 1709 in the cathedral city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. His father was a bookseller whose house is now the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum. From his earliest days, Johnson’s life was blighted by ill health and poverty forced him to leave Pembroke College, Oxford without a degree. In 1735 he married Elizabeth Porter, a widow more than twenty years his senior.

In 1737 Johnson moved to London with his friend David Garrick, the actor, and tried to earn a living as a journalist, writing for The Gentleman’s Magazine. Johnson was commissioned by a syndicate of booksellers to write the first comprehensive Dictionary of the English Language in 1746. He rented 17 Gough Square and with the help of his six amanuenses compiled the Dictionary in the garret. It was published in 1755.

After the death of Johnson's beloved wife, the Jamaican servant Francis Barber came to live with him in Gough Square. Many friends were entertained at the house, including Joshua Reynolds, Charles Burney and the Blue Stocking Elizabeth Carter. Johnson often gave shelter to friends in need. The famous "Club" was formed, with friends such as Oliver Goldsmith and Edmund Burke. In 1763, Johnson met a young Scottish lawyer named James Boswell, who later became the best known of Johnson’s biographers.

Johnson’s edition of Shakespeare was published in 1765 and his Lives of the Poets in 1779-81. He died in 1784 and is buried at Westminster Abbey.

History of the House

When the House was purchased by the Liberal Member of Parliament Cecil Harmsworth in 1911 it was derelict and dilapidated. Harmsworth restored the House to its original condition and opened it to the public in 1912. At the same time, a cottage was built as the Curator's residence. The City of London suffered extensive damage during the Second World War and Dr Johnson’s House was nearly destroyed on three occasions during the bombing of 1940-41. The House was saved by the courage of the Auxiliary Fire Service, who were using the House as a rest centre and arts club.

The House is run by the Dr Johnson’s House Trust and the present Lord Harmsworth is the Chairman of the Board of Governors.

Personality of the Month
David Garrick (1717 - 1779)

David Garrick was born on 19 February 1717 at the Angel Inn in Hereford where his father, Peter, was on recruiting duty. The family set up home in Lichfield, where David attended Lichfield Grammar School but in 1729, at the age of 14, he was sent to his Uncle David to Lisbon in order to prepare himself for a career in the wine trade. After a year and a half he was sent back to Lichfield , probably because of concern his open laughter at a religious procession had offended church officials. In 1735 he was transferred to a new academy at Edial, set up by Lichfield local Samuel Johnson.

When Johnson's school failed, teacher and pupil, both with little financial resource but great ambitions, decided to set off to London together and in 1737 they ‘rode and tied' their way to the capital, with just one horse between them. Garrick had a brief flirtation with a legal career in London , but following an allowance from his uncle upon his coming of age, he gave this up in favour of joining his brother Peter in the wine trade. However, the stage was a constant lure to the young Garrick and, unbeknownst to his family he made his debut as a professional actor at Ipswich in 1741 in Oroonoko , also joining a summer tour there, appearing under the stage name Lyddal. However, on 19 October 1741 he openly appeared in Goodman's Fields in the title role of Richard III, to great critical acclaim. He admitted all to his family, whose acceptance of his career change was probably helped by his significant salary increase. Garrick completed a total of 18 roles in his first six months as a professional actor: his style was reported to be far more natural and less declamatory that his predecessors, perhaps to some degree explaining his huge, and immediate, success.

Garrick's great success soon attracted the eye of Charles Fleetwood, manager of Drury Lane , who engaged Garrick for the full 1742-43 season. Garrick's acting career thrived over the next five years and, at the end of the 1746-1747 seasons when Fleetwoods' patent on Drury Lane expired he took over the theatre with partner James Lacy. Although the theatre had been in a decline for some years, this new partnership of invigorated Drury Lane and Garrick made many innovations to programming and scenery. In 1749 Garrick agreed to put on Johnson's tragedy Irene which, although lasting a respectable nine nights, caused tension between the egos of playwright and actor.

Garrick was happily married to former dancer Eva-Maria Veigel and they shared their time between houses at Hampton and the fashionable Adelphi. Garrick retired from Drury Lane in 1776 and on his death three year's later Johnson wrote that ‘I am disappointed by the stroke of death that has eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the publick stock of harmless pleasure'. Garrick was buried in poet's corner, Westminster Abbey.