Thomas Chatterton (1752 – 1770) was born here. The author of pseudo-medieval poetry and caustic satire, he is famous as the father of romanticism for his early experiments in gothic revivalism. Yet, he is perhaps remembered more for his death than his life. He died from arsenic poisoning in August 1770 at the age of 17. The inquest declared the death as suicide, and for years the young poet was celebrated as an early Romantic hero. He was fondly remembered, for instance, as the "marvellous boy" by Wordsworth and his youthful demise is immortalised in verse by Robinson, Coleridge, Shelley, Keats and, later, Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
However, less romanticising research asserts the fact that Chatterton had been earning money and recognition in the time leading up to his death, and suggests that the death was caused by an accidental overdose. This challenges the long-enduring myth of the poverty-stricken youthful genius.
