Edward Lear

On May 12 1812 Edward Lear was born in Highgate London. Edward was the twentieth child of Jeremiah Lear, a London stockbroker, and his wife Ann. Four years after his birth, Jeremiah lost most of the family’s earnings and riches in the Stock Exchange, therefore forcing them to leave the fashionable life to which they grew accustomed too. From there, Edwards’s mother rejected him, and his upbringing was in the hands of his oldest sister Ann. Young Edward certainly resented his mother’s rejection, but found all the love he needed in Ann. Edward suffered from attacks of what he called “The Demon”, epilepsy as well as asthma, bronchitis and poor eyesight. When he was five or six, sudden mood swings as well as depression started to begin. Other than Edwards’s school education, his sister constantly read classical tales and modern poetry to him as well as taught him to draw.

By the age of fifteen Lear’s father retired and could not provide for his children, Edward, who w...