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- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1809~1892 -
Lincolnshire's literary son, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, was born at Somersby Rectory in 1809, the fourth of 12 children of the Rev Dr George Clayton Tennyson.
He spent his childhood and early adult life in the county until the family moved away in 1857.
During his time at Cambridge University, he became a friend of Arthur Hallam who was to have a profound influence on his early life.
The year of 1850 is generally regarded as the most important period of Tennyson's life, with the publication of his most significant work In Memoriam - dedicated to Hallam after his early death - his marriage to Emily Sellwood, and his appointment as Poet Laureate.
He came to be regarded as one of the most respected and influential figures of the Victorian era, numbering among his friends and admirers Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Gladstone, Browning and Edward Lear.
Tennyson was offered a baronetcy in 1873 which he declined, but after much hesitation he later accepted a peerage.
At the time of his death on October 6, 1892, he was the most successful poet of the period.
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