Edward James Hughes (1930 - 1998)

Born 17 Aug 1930 in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Husband of Sylvia Plath — married 16 Jun 1956 in St George the Martyr Holborn, London, England

Died 28 Oct 1998 at age 68 in Southwark, London, England, United Kingdom

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Edward James "Ted" Hughes OM was an English poet and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation, and one of the twentieth century's greatest writers. He served as Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.

Biography

Edward Hughes is Notable.

Ted Hughes was born on August 17, 1930,^[1] in Mytholmroyd, Yorkshire, England.^[2] He was the son of William Henry Hughes, a joiner, and Edith (Farrar) Hughes; and was the youngest of three siblings. His brother Gerald was ten years older, and his sister Olwyn was two years older.

Ted was educated at Mexborough Grammar School, from whence he won an open exhibition to Pembroke College Cambridge. He went up to Cambridge in 1951, having chosen to do his National Service (in the RAF) first. He initially studied English, but found it stifled his own writing, and in his third year he changed course to anthropology and archaeology.

In 1956 Ted married the American poet Sylvia Plath. ^{[2] [3]} with whom he had two children. The couple had a very fruitful literary relationship, but a less happy personal one, and in 1962 they separated.

Sylvia Plath committed suicide on 11 February 1963.

After Plath's death, Ted Hughes had a relationship with Assia Wevill, with whom he had a daughter, Alexandra Tatiana Elise. Assia Wevill died by suicide in 1969, also killing her child.

In 1970, Ted married again, and the couple remained together until his death.

He died on October 28, 1998, aged 68, in London, England.^[2]

Honours and Legacy

• Appointed Poet Laureate in 1984
• Awarded an OBE
• Awarded the Order of Merit in 1998
• Memorialised in Poets' Corner

• The Ted Hughes Award: a prize for new work in poetry, set up in 2009 by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy
• The Ted Hughes Society
• The Elmet Trust, founded 2006,
• Arvon Foundation

Selected Works

Poetry Collections:

• The Hawk in the Rain (1957)
• Lupercal (1960)
• Wodwo (1967)
• Crow: From the Life and the Songs of the Crow (1970)
• Selected Poems 1957–1967 (1972)
• Cave Birds (1975)
• Gaudete (1977)
• Remains of Elmet (with photographs by Fay Godwin) (1979)
• Moortown (1979)
• River (1983)
• Flowers and Insects (1986)
• Wolfwatching (1989)
• Rain-charm for the Duchy (1992)
• New Selected Poems 1957–1994 (1994)
• Tales from Ovid (1997)
• Birthday Letters (1998)
• Collected Poems (2003)
• A Ted Hughes Bestiary: Poems (2016)

As Editor:

• The Rattle Bag (1982) (with Seamus Heaney)
• The School Bag (1997) (with Seamus Heaney)
• By Heart: 101 Poems to Remember (1997)

Sources

1. ↑ "England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZ6-1VD1 : 4 September 2014), Edward James Hughes, Oct 1998; from "England & Wales Deaths, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Death Registration, Southwark, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Wikipedia contributors. "Ted Hughes" Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Accessed 11 Feb 2017.
3. ↑ "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVD2-NKHT : 8 October 2014), Edward J Hughes and null, 1956; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1956, quarter 2, vol. 5C, p. 1476, Holborn, London, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.