Daniel Defoe

Defoe was born in the parish of St. Giles Cripplegate in London to James Foe, a successful candle-maker and butcher, and his wife, Anne, who died when Defoe was just 10 years old. Defoe’s father was a Presbyterian dissenter—meaning he did not follow the Church of England—and even though it was illegal to worship outside the Church of England, Defoe was educated at a dissenting academy in London, where he most likely attended a Unitarian church. After his schooling, Defoe became a merchant, dealing mostly in wool and wine, and he married Mary Tuffley, a wealthy merchant’s daughter, in 1684. Defoe was accused of marrying Mary for her dowry, but though it is said they had a rocky union, they were married for 47 years and had eight children together. In 1685, he joined the Monmouth Rebellion, which attempted to overthrow King James II of England, but Defoe was later pardoned. After Mary II and William III were crowned as Queen and King of England in 1689, Defoe worked as a trusted adviser and spy for King William. By 1692, Defoe was bankrupt and later arrested and jailed for excessive debts. After he was released from prison, Defoe travelled for a bit before returning to England in 1696. Around this time, Defoe began writing—mostly political, economic, and social essays and pamphlets—and published An essay upon projects, a series of writings on society and economics, in 1697. In 1703, Defoe was arrested for his political and religious views—like his father, Defoe was a nonconformist—and he was sent to Newgate Prison, the same prison where Moll Flanders is held in Defoe’s novel of the same name. He was later released and went on to write over 300 essays, novels, and pamphlets. He published his most famous work, Robinson Crusoe, in 1719; however, the book was originally published with Robinson Crusoe as the author as well as the title character and was received much like a travel journal. Defoe wrote Moll Flanders in 1722, but the book was published without an author and was assumed to be an autobiography. It was not until 1770, many years after Defoe’s death, that he was credited as the book’s author by a London bookseller. He wrote one of his last books, The Complete English Tradesman, a political work that also focuses on trade, economics, and marriage, in 1726. Defoe died of a likely stroke in 1731, at which time he was penniless and still running from creditors. He was 70 years old.