The Wordsworths and India

The Romantic period was a key era in the development of British colonialism, and by 1820 Britain ruled one quarter of the world’s population. This vast empire touched many parts of the Wordsworths’ lives, from the food they ate to their financial security. In this online event Professor Corinne Fowler, Dr Felicity James and Professor Phil Shaw will discuss the complex colonial activity and concerns of the Wordsworth family and their circle of friends.

Corinne Fowler will explore William Wordsworth’s series of unsuccessful colonial investments, beginning with William and Dorothy’s brother John whose East India Company ship sank off the coast of Weymouth. Felicity James will consider the wider colonial connections of the Wordsworths’ friendship circle, in particular the role of the East India Company in shaping life at Dove Cottage. Phil Shaw will discuss the Wordsworth family’s connections with colonial India, focussing on the activities of the poet’s grandsons, John Wordsworth of the 77th (Hindoostan) regiment, and William Wordsworth, Vice-Chancellor of Bombay University.

The speakers will also explore some incredible objects from the Wordsworth Trust’s collection close-up on screen, including unpublished letters and sketches, and finish with an audience Q&A.

How to book and attend

Please read our guide to booking and attending online events before you purchase a ticket.

Five free tickets are available for those experiencing financial hardship that would otherwise not be able to attend. This is on a first come first served basis with no questions asked about your situation. Please email Hannah at h.catterall@wordsworth.org.uk

Live captions will be provided by Otter.ai

About the speakers

Corinne Fowler is Professor of Colonialism and Heritage in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. She directed a child-led history and writing project called Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted (2018-2022, Heritage Lottery and Arts Council). In 2020 she co-authored an audit of peer-reviewed research about National Trust properties’ connections to empire. The report won the Museums and Heritage Special Recognition Award, 2022. Her most recent book is Green Unpleasant Land: Creative Responses to Rural England’s Colonial Connections and her next book is The Countryside: Ten Walks Through Colonial Britain (Penguin Allen Lane: Spring 2023).

Dr Felicity James is Associate Professor in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Literature at the University of Leicester. She works on late eighteenth and early nineteenth century literature, with a particular interest in sociability, friendship and creative exchange and collaboration amongst writers, and in life-writing. She is co-chair of the Charles Lamb Society and is currently editing a volume of the Lambs’ children’s writing for Oxford University Press.

Phil Shaw is Professor of Romantic Studies at the University of Leicester. He specialises in British Romantic literature, literary theory, and visual culture. Wordsworth After War, a book arising from his AHRC Leadership Fellow project Wordsworth 2020 (2019-21), is scheduled for publication in 2023. He has worked on exhibitions at Tate Britain and the Wordsworth Trust.

This conversation is hosted by Jeff Cowton, Principal Curator & Head of Learning at Wordsworth Grasmere.