Doctor Johnsons House Greater London hotels:

Dr Johnson's House : Dr Johnson’s House is one of the few residential houses of its age still surviving in the City of London. Built in 1700, it was a home and workplace for Samuel Johnson from 1748-1759, and it was here that he compiled the first comprehensive English Dictionary. Now restored to its original condition, the house contains panelled rooms, a pine staircase, and a collection of period furniture, prints and portraits. Situated to the north of Fleet Street, the house is found among a maze of courtyards and passages that are a reminder of historic London. Samuel Johnson was born on 18th September 1709 in the cathedral city of Lichfield, Staffordshire. His father was a bookseller whose house, built in 1708, is now The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum. Samuel’s early life was beset by ill health. His eyesight and hearing were poor throughout his life. He was educated at Lichfield Grammar School and Pembroke College, Oxford, but poverty obliged him to leave Oxford without a degree. In 1735, Johnson married Elizabeth Porter, a widow more than twenty years his senior. Following an unsuccessful attempt to run a school, Johnson with his friend, the actor David Garrick, travelled to London. Johnson struggled to support himself through journalism. He was a contributor to The Gentleman’s Magazine, then based at St John's Gate, and it was at this time that he wrote his two best known poems, London and The Vanity of Human Wishes. Johnson was commissioned to write a Dictionary of the English Language by a syndicate of printers. He rented 17 Gough Square, and with the help of his six amanuenses, compiled the Dictionary in the garret. He lived at Gough Square for over ten years, writing his Rambler and Idler essays and his novel Rasselas. After the death of his beloved wife, in 1752, his Jamaican servant, Francis Barber joined him. Many friends were entertained at the house, including Joshua Reynolds, Dr Charles Burney and the Blue Stocking Elizabeth Carter.