John Dryden (Dictionary of World Biography: The 17th and 18th Centuries)

Early Life

John Dryden was born August 19 (New Style), 1631, probably in the rectory of his maternal grandfather, in Aldwinckle, Northamptonshire. His mother was Mary Pickering, the niece of the substantial landholder Sir John Pickering. His father was Erasmus Darwin, who, although the youngest son of his family, had been given a considerable parcel of land in Northamptonshire. Although members of the Church of England, both the Drydens and the Pickerings were Puritans.

The oldest of fourteen children, John may have begun his education in a village school or at home,...

[The entire page is 2660 words long]

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