Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on 4 August 1792 at Field Place, near Horsham in Sussex. His father, Timothy Shelley (1753-1844), was a land-owning Whig Member of Parliament for New Shoreham and later become a Baronet. Shelley was in line for a baronetcy and Timothy wanted his son to be educated at Eton and then Oxford. Shelley's first educational experience was at a day school in Warnham where he learnt elementary Latin and Greek. Aged ten, Shelley was sent to Syon House Academy, a London preparatory school, where he was bullied and where Shelley met his tormentors with fiery indignation and uncontrollable rage.

At Eton, where Shelley enrolled in 1804, he also proved an unpopular pupil, often subjected to 'pranks' and ridicule.

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First published 07 July 2001

Citation: Sandy, Mark. "Percy Bysshe Shelley". The Literary Encyclopedia. 7 July 2001.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4050, accessed 9 February 2010.]