(David) Hartley Coleridge (1796-1849): Eldest son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Sarah Fricker; and Southey’s nephew, nicknamed ‘Job’ for his seriousness as a child. Southey played a considerable part in Hartley’s upbringing after his father separated from his mother, leaving his children in Southey’s care at Greta Hall. In 1808 Hartley was sent to Ambleside School and in 1815 Southey was able to organise sufficient donations from friends and family to allow Hartley to proceed to Merton, College, Oxford. He proved a brilliant, if erratic scholar, and though he gained a Fellowship at Oriel College this was forfeited in 1820, much to the distress of his family. After some time as a writer in London, Hartley moved back to the Lake District in 1823, initially to teach in his old school. He then moved to Grasmere and finally to Rydal, continuing to write poetry and criticism, though his life was increasingly blighted by alcohol dependency.

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