John Evelyn

Gillian Darley (University College London)
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John Evelyn was born in 1620, one of five children all of whom survived to adulthood. He was the second of three sons in a family whose fortune had been made in gunpowder manufacture and then expended on land. By the time of his birth, his father, Richard Evelyn was a leading member of the Surrey gentry and had settled at his estate at Wotton, Surrey. In fact, John Evelyn was brought up by his maternal grandfather, John Stansfield, and his wife in East Sussex at Southover, outside Lewes, where he attended Southover Free School until going up to Oxford, to Balliol College. However, he always considered that his intellectual life began with his travels, first to the Low Countries in 1641, and then for a prolonged period (1643 until 1651) to France and Italy, before settling in Paris, having…

1807 words

Citation: Darley, Gillian. "John Evelyn". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 February 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1461, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1461 John Evelyn 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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