Poet and artist. Except for 3 years spent on the coast near Bognor, Blake lived his whole life in London, making his living as an engraver. Born at 28 Broad Street, now Broadwick Street (the memorial being in Marshall Street). 1782 married Catherine.
Wrote Jerusalem in his rooms in South Molton Street, the only one of his London homes to survive, other homes being: 28 Broad Street W1; Green Street, near Leicester Square (briefly, no plaque); 28 Poland Street (no plaque); Hercules Road SE1; 3 Fountain Court at the Strand where he lived his last 7 years and died a poor man. See for more details.
His friend George Richmond closed Blake's eyes "to keep the vision in". Buried in Bunhill Fields Dissenters' Burial Ground. This was damaged during WW2 and restored in 1960 by which time the precise location of Blake's remains had been forgotten, or at least lost in the archives.
In 2007 there is a campaign to re-mark the grave and to build a monument to this truly great Londoner. And 2018: reports that a new gravestone, in the correct location, will be unveiled in August.
The Blake Archive web site, given as the Picture Source is a magnificent site.
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