Dove Cottage - After Wordsworth

After Wordsworth

Thomas de Quincey, a friend of the Wordsworths, took up residence in Dove Cottage in 1809, the year after the Wordsworths left. He had often stayed with the Wordsworths since 1807, and held William Wordsworth in high regards. De Quincey married the daughter of a local farmer, and remained in residence until 1820. His Confessions of an English Opium Eater was based on his experiences as an opium addict, and describes him relaxing at the cottage with a quart of laudanum. He upset the Wordsworth family by making alterations to Dove Cottage and more importantly, its garden. The increasing size of his family forced him to move to Fox Ghyll, but he continued to rent Dove Cottage, and store books there, until 1835. Debts eventually forced him to leave the cottage for good.

Dove Cottage then had a succession of tenants, becoming known as Dixon's Lodging. In the late 1880s, the cottage was bought by Edmund Lee, a businessman from London, for his son, an aspiring poet. Unfortunately, the younger Lee was not inspired to greatness by Wordsworth's old house. The Wordsworth Trust bought the cottage for £650 in 1890. The Trust was formed by the Reverend Stopford Brooke with the express purpose of preserving this place, which was so closely bound with Wordsworth's works. The cottage became commonly known as "Dove Cottage" only after it was acquired by the Trust.