We are hoping to present the research and associations of George Borrow with various places over the coming months. This page is a place holder of what we hope to cover.
Of the many places associated with George Borrow, East Anglia is perhaps the best known. The main places being:
East Dereham, where he was born.
Norman Cross (outside Peterborough), where he lived at the prisoner of war camp.
Norwich, where he lived as a boy and young man.
Oulton, where he lived as a married man and owned an estate.
Yarmouth, where he and his family lived in lodgings for many years.
George Borrow is associated with numerous places in London and rather than list here, we’ve a separate page on London and George Borrow. This also explains the chronology of Borrow’s associations with London.
Borrow made three tours of Wales, and his book Wild Wales relates his first tour. We have a separate page to cover George Borrow and Wales.
Again, Spain made Borrow famous and so we have a separate page on George Borrow and Spain.
During his life George Borrow travelled extensively, resulting in a very long list of places associated with him. Below are some of the more notable ones.
Whilst a child George Borrow travelled with his father’s regiment, the West Norfolk Militia. Between 1803 and 1809 this involved Colchester, Coxheath Camp (Kent), Silver Hill Barracks (Sussex), Winchelsea, Hastings, Dover and Canterbury.
In April 1810 to the end of July 1811, the regiment was at Norman Cross prisoner of war camp, just south of Peterborough.
In February 1812 the regiment started (from Harwich) the slow progress north, staying at Leicester, Melton Mowbray, Tamworth, Macclesfield, Stockport, Ashton, Huddersfield, Sheffield. On 19th March 1813 the regiment was order to march to Berwick-upon-Tweed (i.e. making for Edinburgh) where they arrived on 6th April 1813, and stayed until June 1814 living in Edinburgh castle, with George Borrow and his brother John attending Edinburgh High School.
From 8th September 1815 the regiment was in Ireland, staying at Clonmel and Templemore.
Then follows the long Norwich period where George Borrow completed his schooling and his five year articleship in law. After that was the first London period, where he worked for Sir Richard Phillips.
In George Borrow’s semi-autobiographical work Lavengro, he tells of his tramp (May–August 1825?) where he left London, travelled through Salisbury, then towards the Welsh border, heading north, settling in a dingle in Staffordshire(?), the dog and lion fight of Warwick and then across country to Horncastle for the annual horse-fair.
The following period is traditionally called “the veiled period” but is now believed to have been spent mainly in Norwich with occasional visits to London.
In 1833 the British and Foreign Bible Society sent George Borrow to Russia (via Hamburg, Bremanm and Lubeck. At St. Petersburg George Borrow printed the Manchu scriptures.
The Spanish period is covered elswhere. Towards the end of the Spanish period there was a trip to Gibraltar and Tangiers.
Back in England George Borrow published The Zincali and then The Bible in Spain, resulting in his becoming “famous overnight”.
In 1844 there was a tour of the east (including Constantinople and Rome).
The Yarmouth years then follow.
1853 saw George Borrow invited to visit his father’s relations in Cornwall, and a walking tour of Cornwall takes place (running into 1854).
The first Welsh tour was in 1854 (from which the book Wild Wales came), getting to Llangollen via Chester.
1855 saw the trip to the Isle of Man, with George Borrow’s notebook being published after his death, and hence there’s quite a bit of research been done on this.
A second walking tour of Wales took place in 1857.
1858 saw a walking tour of Scotland, and 1859 a walking tour of Ireland.
The London period begins in 1860 and apart from a trip to Belfast in 1866, followed by a walk through Scotland (including a visit to Kirk Yelthom), London is then the base until 1874.
In 1874 George Borrow returned to Oulton where he died on 26th July 1881.