Ebenezer Elliott

Stephen Van-Hagen (University of Coventry)
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The son of an iron worker who was an ultra-Calvinist and a political radical, Ebenezer Elliott was born in 1781 at Masbrough, Rotherham. Elliott was disfigured by small-pox when six years old, and received only a rudimentary education. He worked at his father's business from a young age. When he married a Rotherham girl who brought a small fortune to the marriage, he invested in the family firm. The business was already virtually bankrupt however, and Elliott lost all the money. He appears to have blamed this on the protectionist Corn Laws which were passed by Lord Liverpool's government in 1815 as a reaction to the end of the Napoleonic wars. When Elliott's wife's family raised some money in 1821, he used it to begin a business in the iron trade in Sheffield. This time he was…

1113 words

Citation: Van-Hagen, Stephen. "Ebenezer Elliott". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2006; last revised 19 September 2007. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1414, accessed 19 March 2024.]

1414 Ebenezer Elliott 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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