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H.G. Wells Home / HGW Biography / HGW Works / HGW Related Links
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Date of Birth: |
September 21, 1866 |
Place of Birth: |
Bromley, Kent, England |
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Spouses: |
Isabel, Amy Catherine (Jane) |
Most Famous Works: |
The Invisible Man, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds |
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Children: |
George Philip, Frank Richard (sons of Jane), several illegitimate children |
First Publication: |
Select Conversations With an Uncle, in 1895 |
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Date of Death: |
August 13, 1946 |
Place of Death: |
London, England |
H(erbert) G(eorge) Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, England. He was the fourth and last child of Sarah Neal Wells and Joseph Wells. Born before Herbert George were Frances, Frank, and Fred. Unfortunately, Frances died at the age of nine, before Herbert George was even born. The Wells were not very rich, and Wells used to often joke that while he may not have been born in a manger, his rise to fame was almost miraculous. His mother was a maid in the houses of the upper class of Sussex and his father was a shopkeeper in Bromley.
H.G.'s career may have started entirely by accident. When he was eight years old, he broke his leg and spent a lot of time reading and discovered an intense interest in it. Also, he was enrolled in the Thomas Morley's Academy at the age of eight. At the age of eleven, his father fell from a ladder and fractured his thigh. Joseph Wells never fully recovered and money was even tighter after this. So at the age of thirteen, H.G. was withdrawn from the Thomas Morley's Academy and apprenticed to a draper, for which he worked long hours. He hated it and was delighted when he was dismissed from the draper's because of all the mistakes he had been making. After this H.G. went to work for his uncle, as a part-time tutor and a part-time student. However, this job was soon ended when authorities closed down his uncle's school. After this he went through another series of apprenticeships and finally won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London. He also worked as a journalist during this time.
In 1891, Wells and Isabel, a daughter of one the Wells family's in-laws- making her his cousin, were married. By this time he was working as a tutor again. However, the marriage didn't last long, partly because of Well's adultery, and in 1894, he left Isabel for Amy Catherine Robbins (nicknamed Jane), a pupil in one of Well's classes. Jane and Wells were married not long after Wells and Isabel's divorce.
In 1895, Wells' first major work was published- Select Conversations With an Uncle. However, it was his next book that started Wells on his road to success- The Time Machine, which was also published in 1895. This was followed by The Island of Doctor Moreau (which has been made into several different successful movies), in 1896, The Invisible Man, in 1897, and War of the Worlds, in 1898. In 1901, Jane Wells gave birth to George Philip, H.G.'s first son. In 1903, their second child, Frank Richard, was born.
In 1902, Wells became actively involved with the Fabian Society, a influential club of evolutionary socialists. He left the society in 1906 due to some arguments with other members. Wells continued to write and in 1909 had an affair with Amber Reeves, who had a daughter by him. Jane knew about this but they didn't get divorced-they were married until her death in 1927. The public was shocked and many of his works were boycotted. But it wouldn't be the first time- starting in 1913 and lasting for ten years, Wells had an affair with Rebecca West, also a writer. Rebecca also had a son by Wells.
Wells continued to write up until the year before his death. Some of his other more famous works include The First Men in the Moon (1901), Modern Utopia (1905), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and Mind at the End of Its Tether (1945). He died on August 13, 1946, only a few weeks short of his eightieth birthday, from cancer. However, even today, his works are still being read and made into movies. It was his War of the Worlds play that when broadcasted by Orson Welles in 1938, convinced the public that it was real and threw America into a mass hysteria. As recently as 1996, The Island of Doctor Moreau was remade into a feature film. H.G. Wells is definitely a classic.
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