Timeline of Chiswick Writers & Books

Just some of the books written in the past 600 years by authors connected with Chiswick, west London.

Chiswick may be Britain’s most literary location – The Observer

To prove it we’ve identified close to 500 writers who have written a book, poem, play or script for film or television and lived in Chiswick W4, or have written books about the area.  It includes the creators of some of the country’s greatest works, from Thackeray’s Vanity Fair to Osborne’s Look Back in Anger and Pinter’s The Caretaker.

This page lists, in chronological order, the 300 authors for whom we have years of birth. All of the writers we know can be found on our fiction and non-fiction listings. If you’d to appear on the timeline below, email your year of birth to admin@chiswickbookfestival.net

Our Writers Trail map features 36 notable novelists, poets and playwrights. These are displayed below in CAPITAL LETTERS.
For more information, our Writers Tales page carries links to anecdotes, pictures and articles. And for much much more, see A Quick Guide to The Chiswick Timeline of Writers & Books.

Year of BirthNameKnown For
1561LADY MARY SIDNEYSidney Psalter
1572JOHN DONNEDeath Be Not Proud
1598Herbert ThorndikeOf the Government of Churches
1615Sir John DenhamCooper’s Hill
1641Edward BaynardHealth; a Poem
1643Sir John ChardinJournal du voiage du Chevalier Chardin en Perse et aux Indes orientales la Mer Noire et par la Colchide
1684Joseph MillerJoe Miller’s Jests
1688ALEXANDER POPEThe Rape of The Lock
1689SAMUEL RICHARDSONPamela; or, Virtue Rewarded
1697William HogarthThe Analysis of Beauty
1703Thomas MorellJudas Maccabaeus
1705David Mallet (David Malloch)William and Margaret
1705James RalphJames Ralph
1712Jean-Jacques Rousseau The Social Contract
1720RALPH GRIFFITHSThe Monthly Review
1727Lady Mary CokeThe letters and journals of Lady Mary Coke
1737ELIZABETH MOODYTo A Lady Who Was A Great Talker
1738Dorothea CelesiaAlmida
1757GEORGIANA, DUCHESS OF DEVONSHIREEmma; Or, The Unfortunate Attachment: A Sentimental Novel 
1763Mary BerrySocial Life in England and France from the French Revolution
1764Ann RadcliffeThe Romance of the Forest
1772HENRY FRANCIS CARYThe Divine Comedy
1775Daniel O’ConnellAn Historical Memoir: Ireland and the Irish
1778UGO FOSCOLODei Sepolcri
1788Sir Francis RonaldsA Description of an Electric Telegraph
1799John LindleyEncyclopedia of Plants
1803Joseph PaxtonThe Gardeners’ Chronicle
1811WM THACKERAYVanity Fair
1812Robert Fortune A Journey to the Tea Countries of China
1813Rev William CottonMy Bee Book
1817Edward Robert KellyKelly’s Directory
1819Thomas LaytonThe Layton Collection
1819Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria’s Journals
1826Thomas Harrington TukeJournal of Mental Science
1831George Manville FennOnce a Week
1832Sir Edwin ArnoldThe Light of Asia
1834James McNeill WhistlerThe Gentle Art of Making Enemies
1834WILLIAM MORRISNews from Nowhere
1834Frederick WaltonThe Infancy and Development of Linoleum
1837Henry Fox BourneJohn Stuart Mill: His Life and Works
1839Mary Cecil HayThe Squire’s Legacy
1839Dr John TodhunterThree Bardic Tales
1841Mary Popham BlythThe Queen’s Jewel
1843James SimeHistory of Germany
1847Robert StevensonEngraving
1847Richard Bowdler SharpeCatalogue of the Birds in the British Museum
1848Lewis Pinhorn WoodHarry Goodchild’s Day Dream
1848Thomas Bolas The Chiswick Level Crossing Fatality
1849Maurice B AdamsBuilding News
1849WE HenleyInvictus
1850Frederick York PowellCorpus Poeticum Boreale: Court Poems
1850Thomas Alfred SpaldingElizabethan Demonology
1851Llewellyn Atherley-JonesMiner’s Manual
1851SERGIUS STEPNIAKUnderground Russia
1851Charles Elkin MathewsThe Yellow Book
1852Goddard Henry OrpenIreland under the Normans
1853WPW PhillimoreHistoric Collections Relating to Chiswick
1853Sir Herbert Beerbohm TreeHenry VIII and His Court
1855Adela OrpenCorrageen in ’98: a story of the Irish rebellion
1855SIR ARTHUR WING PINERO The Second Mrs Tanqueray 
1858CJ CornishThe Naturalist on the Thames
1859Nelson DawsonGoldsmiths’ and Silversmiths’ Work
1863Edgar Jepson (R. Edison Page)Arsène Lupin 
1865WB YEATSSailing to Byzantium
1867Sir Sydney CockerellThe Book Of Hours Of Yolande Of Flanders
1867Roger IngpenStorm Boy
1868Jessie Georgina SimeThe Mistress of All Work
1869St John HankinThe Return of the Prodigal 
1869Lindsay Philip ButterfieldFloral Forms in Historic Design
1869Dan RiderAdventures With Bernard Shaw
1872Edward Gordon CraigOn the Art of the Theatre
1872Sir Charles (CB) CochranSecrets of a Showman
1873George Reginald BacchusThe Confessions of Nemesis Hunt
1873Ford Madox FordParade’s End
1874GK CHESTERTONFather Brown
1874Isa BowmanThe Story of Lewis Carroll, Told for Young People by the Real Alice in Wonderland
1874Sir Nigel PlayfairWhen Crummies Played
1875Cyril Gull (Guy Thorne)When It Was Dark: The Story of A Great Conspiracy
1875EDGAR WALLACEThe Four Just Men
1876Sir Percy HarrisForty Years In and Out of Parliament, London and its Government
1876Mark Edward PeruginiThe Story of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith
1878Sydney BlowWhere Is This Lady?
1879EM FORSTERA Room With a View
1884JC SQUIREThe London Mercury
1886ALAIN FOURNIERThe Lost Domain
1887KC BarnabyBasic Naval Architecture
1887Field Marshall Viscount Montgomery of AlameinThe Memoirs of Field Marshal Montgomery
1887Violet JessopTitanic Survivor
1888Archibald LowThe Future
1889Patsy HendrenMy Book of Cricket and Cricketers
1894Ralph EdwardsShorter Dictionary of English Furniture
1896Margaret KennedyThe Constant Nymph
1897Cosmo ClarkThe Tin Trunk
1897Sir John SlessorThe Central Blue: The Autobiography of Sir John Slessor, Marshal of the RAF
1899Selwyn JepsonKeep Murder Quiet
1900STEPHEN POTTERGamesmanship
1900GEOFFREY HOUSEHOLDRogue Male
1903Reginald ColemanStamford Brook: An Affectionate Portrait
1904NANCY MITFORDLove in a Cold Climate
1904PATRICK HAMILTONGaslight
1905Jerrard TickellAppointment With Venus
1906SIR JOHN BETJEMANSummoned by Bells
1908Michael RedgraveIn My Mind’s I: An Actor’s Autobiography
1909Goronwy ReesA Chapter of Accidents
1910MS BartlettAn Introduction to Stochastic Processes
1910Giles PlayfairKeane: Paradoxical Genius
1910Rachel KempsonLife Among the Redgraves
1913Jack BentleyLaura and Disorder 
1913Jo Grimond, Baron GrimondThe Liberal Future
1913Hugh Cudlipp, Baron CudlippPublish and be Damned: The Astonishing Story of the “Daily Mirror”
1913Ralph HoddinottThe Thracians
1914DYLAN THOMASUnder Milk Wood
1914Alec DicksonChance to Serve 
1917ANTHONY BURGESSA Clockwork Orange
1917T Affleck GreevesBedford Park: The First Garden Suburb
1917Leo AbseMargaret, Daughter of Beatrice
1918Mora DicksonNannie: A Lifetime Of Devotion
1919Donald Pleasence Scouse The Mouse
1919DAME IRIS MURDOCHThe Sea, The Sea
1919Iris MurdochThe Bell
1920Dr Ian FletcherColonnade and Nine
1921Sir Jimmy YoungForever Young
1921Tommy CooperJust Like That!
1922MICHAEL FLANDERSAt the Drop of a Hat
1922Eamonn AndrewsFor Ever and Ever, Eamonn: The Public and Private Life of Eamonn Andrews
1924ROBERT BOLTA Man for All Seasons
1924JAMES BERRYNews for Babylon
1924Professor Robin MarrisEnding Poverty
1924Ralph MilibandMarxism and Politics
1924John GriggAll Quiet in the Western Suburbs
1925Diana Pullein-ThompsonI Wanted A Pony
1925ALUN OWENA Hard Day’s Night
1925Ernie WiseStill On My Way To Hollywood
1925John GuillerminDeath on the Nile
1925Pete Murray One Day I’ll Forget My Trousers
1925Peter BrookThe Empty Space
1926Fritz SpiegelA Small Book of Grave Humour
1926Eric MorecambeMr Lonely
1926John FowlesThe French Lieutenant’s Woman 
1926Humphry BerkeleyThe Life and Death of Rochester Sneath
1926Dame Gillian LynneA Dancer in Wartime
1926Gillian LynneA Dancer in Wartime
1927Alvin RakoffBaldwin Street
1927Fenella FieldingDo You Mind If I Smoke?
1927Julia SmithEast Enders
1928CARLA LANEThe Liver Birds
1929JOHN OSBORNELook Back in Anger
1929Dennis FarrBritish Sculpture since 1945
1929Patricia LousadaAmerican Baking
1929John VaizeyThe Trade Unionist and Full Employment
1929Roderick GradidgeDream Houses, The Edwardian Ideal
1929Martin HoffmanHoffman on Pairs Play
1929Brian TeslerThe Best of Times
1930JG BALLARDEmpire of the Sun
1930Donald ChurchillMixed Feelings
1930Andy GarnettA Year in the Life of an English Meadow
1930Marthe ArmitageThe Making of Marthe Armitage Artist & Patternmaker
1930HAROLD PINTERThe Caretaker
1931Margaret Jones BolsteriThe Early Community at Bedford Park
1931Mark GirouardLife in the English Country House
1932Professor Peter HallThe World Cities
1933Anthea CraigmyleVicarage in the Blitz
1933Claudia FlandersThe Songs of Michael Flanders & Donald Swann
1933Julian Bream The Julian Bream Guitar Library
1933Sheila HancockOld Rage
1934Dame Eileen AtkinsUpstairs, Downstairs
1934Tom MangoldSplashed! A Life from Print to Panorama
1935David Hannay, Lord Hannay of ChiswickBritain’s Quest for a Role: A Diplomatic Memoir from Europe to the UN
1935Sir Alan MunroKeep the Flag Flying: A Diplomatic Memoir
1936Don TaylorDays Of Vision
1936John BirdBremner, Bird and Fortune
1936Clive BingleyBusiness of Book Publishing
1936Don TaylorDays of Vision
1937Neil ArdleyThe Way Things Work
1937Vanessa RedgraveVanessa: An Autobiography
1938Marina Vaizey 100 Masterpieces Of Art
1938Sandra LousadaLondon’s Parks & Gardens
1939John FortuneBremner, Bird and Fortune
1939Professor Robert SkidelskyHow Much Is Enough?
1939Erin PizzeyScream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear
1939Frederick VineGlobal Tectonics
1939Virginia MakinsThe Invisible Children
1939Bill HagertyBritish Journalism Review
1939Corin RedgraveMichael Redgrave: My Father
1939Lynn Seymour Lynn
1939Michael BillingtonState of the Nation: British Theatre Since 1945
1940Jimmie ChinnStraight and Narrow
1940Sir Michael RoseFighting for Peace: Bosnia 1994
1940Michael CockerellUnmasking Our Leaders
1941Sir George Young MPI’m Keeping Young: The Everyday Life of an MP
1941Ginny BrownSwans At My Window
1942Frank Field MPUnequal Britain
1942Ian DurySex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
1942Will WyattThe Fun Factory: A Life in the BBC
1943Professor Francis Ames-LewisConcepts of Beauty in Renaissance Art
1943Professor Robert HewisonCultural Capital: The Rise and Fall of Creative Britain
1943Michael Parker My Life, My Hurdles
1943Simon JenkinsThe Companion Guide to Outer London
1943Robin KnightA Road Less Travelled
1943LYN REDGRAVEShakespeare for My Father
1944Peter Murray The Saga of Sydney Opera House
1944Polly DevlinVogue Book of Fashion Photography
1944Angela RipponFabulous at Fifty and Beyond
1944John EntwistleBass Culture: The John Entwistle Bass Collection
1944Roger DaltreyRoger Daltrey: Thanks a lot Mr Kibblewhite
1945Celia BrayfieldPearls
1945Helen MirrenIn the Frame – My Life in Words and Pictures
1946Jenny SmithThe Refuge
1946Julia LangdonGordon Brown
1947Michael DibdinRatking
1947Roddy LlewellynBeautiful Backyards
1947Graham HoldernessD.H. Lawrence: History, Ideology and Fiction
1947Ian PeacockBankers: From Pillars to Pariahs
1947Rick SteinEnglish Seafood Cookery
1947Vicki MacKenzieThe Revolutionary Life of Freda Bedi
1947Rula LenskaRula: My Colourful Life
1947Tony Stoller Sounds of Your Life, Classical Music Radio
1948Mavis CheekPause Between Acts
1948Val BottHogarth’s House
1948LuluI Don’t Want to Fight
1948Andrew Lloyd WebberThe Phantom of The Opera
1948Gareth ArmstrongAround the World with Shakespeare’s Jew
1948Wayne SleepPrecious Little Sleep: The Autobiography of Wayne Sleep
1949Susan PenhaligonFor the Love of Angel
1949Robert RankinThe Witches of Chiswick
1949Floella BenjaminComing to England
1949Glenn FrankelHigh Noon: The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic
1949Tom SenskyPsychiatry in Europe
1950Torin DouglasComplete Guide to Advertising
1951Bryan AppleyardBedford Park
1951Hamish PringleSpending Advertising Money in the Digital Age
1951Phil CollinsNot Dead Yet
1952Mel SmithAlas Smith and Jones
1953Cahal DallatBeautiful Lofty Things
1953Louella MilesPerfect Marketing
1953Mark Malloch BrownThe Unfinished Global Revolution 
1953Vyvyan KinrossInformation Warriors
1953Joan SmithHome Grown: How Domestic Violence Turns Men Into Terrorists
1953Mark EllenRock Stars Stole My Life
1953Midge UreDo They Know It’s Christmas?
1955Janet EllisThe Butcher’s Hook
1956Sebastian CoeRunning My Life
1957Edwin Lester ArnoldGulliver of Mars
1957Nick HenneganHow to make a Crisis out of a Drama
1957Laurence ReesAuschwitz: the Nazis and the Final Solution
1957Peter OborneHow Trump Thinks
1958Cath KidstonComing Up Roses: The Story of Growing a Business
1958Bruce DickinsonWhat Does This Button Do?
1958Daley Thompson Going for Gold
1959Jasper ConranCountry 
1959Karen LiebreichThe Family Kitchen Garden: How to Plant, Grow, and Cook Together
1960Kim WildeGardening with Children
1961Vesna GoldsworthyMonsieur Ka
1961Imogen StubbsWe Happy Few
1961James ThellussonSchool’s Out
1961Fergal KeaneThe Madness: A Memoir of War, Fear and PTSD
1962Rebecca FraynMisbehaviour
1962Phillip SchofieldLife’s What You Make It
1964Rosamund LuptonSister
1965Bill BaileyBill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to British Birds
1965Jeremy VineWhat I Learnt: What My Listeners Say – and Why We Should Take Notice
1965William DalrympleThe Last Mughal
1965William CookOne Leg Too Few
1966David MillerToday
1966Carrie ReichardtCash is King: The Art of Defaced Banknotes
1967Sadie JonesThe Outcast
1967Adrian ChilesWe Don’t Know What We’re Doing
1967Rageh OmaarOnly Half of Me
1968Al MurrayThe Pub Landlord’s Book of British Common Sense
1968Kate HumbleHome Cooked
1968Jason DonovanBetween the Lines 
1969Sir Craig OliverUnleashing Demons: The Inside Story of Brexit
1970Richard Osman The Thursday Murder Club
1970Kristina BillPositive Discipline 
1970Sir Matthew Pinsent A Lifetime in a Race
1971Clare BaldingThe Racehorse Who Disappeared
1972Dara Ó BriainSecret Science
1972James CracknellTouching Distance
1972James O’Brien How to be Right
1972Kenny LoganJust for Kicks
1973Dharshini DavidThe Almighty Dollar
1973Warwick DraperChiswick
1973Gabby LoganThe First Half
1974Harriet Evans The Wildflowers
1975Ant McPartlinOoh! What A Lovely Pair: Our Story (with Declan Donnelly)
1975Declan DonnellyOoh! What A Lovely Pair: Our Story (with Ant McPartlin)
1976Elizabeth BakerChains
1976Dr Josephine PerryPerform Under Pressure
1979Henry Hemming M: Maxwell Knight, MI5’s Greatest Spymaster
1979Sophie Ellis-BextorSpinning Plates
1980Adam KayThis is Going to Hurt
1986Corina Stanescu Rawry’s Missing Tooth
2013Miranda SofiaPoems and Stories for Little People
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