Chiswick may be Britain’s most literary location – The Observer
The Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books lists around 425 writers who have written a book and lived in Chiswick W4, or written books about the area. It includes the creators of some of the country’s greatest works (above), from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair to Osborne’s Look Back in Anger and Pinter’s The Caretaker.
See A Quick Guide.
The writers are listed below in chronological order, by their year of birth, stretching back to the 17th Century. Together with living writers, they can be found listed by subject – with links to their works or further information – here: Chiswick Writers: Non-Fiction, Chiswick Writers: Novels, poems and plays
In September/October 2019, we added 90 more names: these carry three asterisks below. The More Names page contains names submitted since then, and these will be added here in the next major update.
The Writers Trail map features 21 acclaimed novelists, poets and playwrights. These are displayed below in CAPITAL LETTERS.
The Writers Tales page carries anecdotes, pictures and articles.
Please scroll down for sources, caveats, and ‘Beyond W4’.
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Year by Year (date of birth)
| Seventeenth Century | Eighteenth Century |
| 1615 Sir John Denham *** | 1703 Thomas Morell |
| 1642 Edward Baynard | 1705 David Mallet |
| 1643 Sir John Chardin | 1705 James Ralph |
| 1684 Joseph Miller | 1720 RALPH GRIFFITHS |
| 1688 ALEXANDER POPE | 1727 Lady Mary Coke |
| 1689 Samuel Richardson *** | 1738 Dorothea Celesia |
| 1697 William Hogarth | 1757 GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIRE |
| 1764 Ann Radcliffe | |
| 1772 Henry Francis Cary | |
| 1778 UGO FOSCOLO | |
| 1799 John Lindley | |
| Nineteenth Century | Twentieth Century |
| 1803 Joseph Paxton | 1900 Geoffrey Household |
| 1811 WM THACKERAY | 1900 Stephen Potter |
| 1817 Edward Robert Kelly *** | 1904 NANCY MITFORD |
| 1830 Queen Victoria | 1904 PATRICK HAMILTON |
| 1831 George Fenn | 1905 Gerard Tickell |
| 1832 Sir Edwin Arnold | 1906 SIR JOHN BETJEMAN |
| 1834 William Morris | 1908 Sir Michael Redgrave |
| 1837 Henry Fox Bourne | 1909 Goronwy Rees |
| 1839 Dr John Todhunter | 1910 MS Bartlett *** |
| 1841 Mary Popham Blyth | 1910 Giles Playfair |
| 1843 James Sime | 1910 Rachel Kempson *** |
| 1847 Richard Bowden Sharpe *** | 1913 Hugh Cudlipp, Baron Cudlipp |
| 1847 Robert Stevenson | 1913 Jack Bentley |
| 1848 Thomas Bolas *** | 1913 Jo Grimond, Baron Grimond |
| 1849 Maurice B Adams *** | 1913 Ralph Hoddinott |
| 1849 WE Henley | 1914 Alec Dickson |
| 1850 Richard York Powell *** | 1917 Leo Abse *** |
| 1850 Alfred Spalding | 1917 ANTHONY BURGESS |
| 1851 Llewelyn Atherley-Jones | 1917 Thomas Affleck Greeves |
| 1851 SERGIUS STEPNIAK | 1918 Mora Dickson |
| 1851 Charles Elkin Mathews *** | 1919 DAME IRIS MURDOCH |
| 1853 Jessie MacGregor | 1919 Donald Pleasence |
| 1853 Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree | 1919 John Sutton |
| 1853 WPW Phillimore | 1920 Dr Ian Fletcher |
| 1855 SIR ARTHUR WING PINERO | 1921 Sir Jimmy Young |
| 1857 Edwin Lester Arnold | 1921 Tommy Cooper |
| 1858 CJ Cornish | 1922 Michael Flanders |
| 1863 Edgard Jepson | 1924 James Berry |
| 1865 WB YEATS | 1924 ROBERT BOLT |
| 1867 Roger Ingpen | 1925 John Guillermin |
| 1868 Jessie Sime | 1925 ALUN OWEN |
| 1869 Dan Rider | 1925 Diana Pullein-Thompson |
| 1869 Lindsay P Butterfield | 1925 Ernie Wise |
| 1869 St John Hankin | 1926 Dame Gillian Lynne |
| 1872 Edward Gordon Craig | 1926 Eric Morecambe |
| 1873 Ford Madox Ford | 1926 Fritz Spiegl |
| 1873 George Reginald Bacchus | 1926 Humphrey Berkeley |
| 1873 Warwick Draper | 1927 Fenella Fielding |
| 1874 GK CHESTERTON | 1927 Julia Smith |
| 1874 Isa Bowman | 1929 JOHN OSBORNE |
| 1875 Cyril Gull | 1929 Roderick Gradidge |
| 1876 Elizabeth Baker | 1929 Martin Hoffman *** |
| 1876 Mark Edward Perugini | 1930 Andy Garnett |
| 1879 EM FORSTER | 1930 Donald Churchill |
| 1884 JC Squire | 1930 JG BALLARD |
| 1886 ALAIN-FOURNIER | 1930 HAROLD PINTER |
| 1887 Field Marshall Montgomery of Alamein | 1931 Don Taylor |
| 1888 Professor Archibald Low | 1931 Margaret Jones Bolsteri |
| 1889 Patsy Hendren *** | 1932 Professor Peter Hall |
| 1894 Ralph Edwards *** | 1933 Anthea Craigmyle |
| 1896 Margaret Kennedy | 1936 Clive Bingley *** |
| 1899 Selwyn Jepson | 1937 Neil Ardley *** |
| 1939 Corin Redgrave | |
| 1939 John Fortune | |
| 1940 Jimmy Chinn | |
| 1942 Ian Dury | |
| 1943 Lynne Redgrave | |
| 1944 John Entwistle *** | |
| 1947 Michael Dibdin | |
| 1952 Mel Smith | |
| 1966 David Miller | |
| Living writers are listed, with the writers above, on these pages: | Chiswick Writers: Non-Fiction |
| Chiswick Writers: Novels, poems and plays |
See also:
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: How it began
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Latest names
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Beyond W4
Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books: Notes and sources: Thank you to everyone who has submitted more names for inclusion. To be included, authors must have lived in Chiswick and written and published a book. We check all references but are happy to make corrections if you know more than we do! If you would like to give further suggestions, comments or information, please email: admin@chiswickbookfestival.net.