The father of philosophical anarchism, William Godwin, was born March 3, 1756 in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, and was the seventh of thirteen children of John Godwin and Anna Hull. Physically weak, introverted and intellectually precocious, Godwin held to strict Sandemanian Calvinism almost until the end of his formal education in 1778 at the Dissenting school, Hoxton Academy. John Godwin was a minister of the Sandeman variety and it was expected that young William would follow him into the ministry. Godwin later described Sandeman as a "celebrated north country apostle, who, after Calvin had damned ninety-nine in a hundred of mankind, had contrived a scheme for damning ninety-nine in a hundred of the followers of Calvin." Such an austere religiosity so early in life goes a long way to explain why Godwin would eventually become the prophet of philosophical anarchism. From The History Guide.
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- William Godwin Article on the life and work of the founder of philosophical anarchism. From the Stanford Encyclopedia, by Mark Philp.
- William Godwin Archive An extensive collection of online texts by this noted early anarchist. Also contains biography, bibliography, commentary, and images.
- Godwin Chronology Chronology of William Godwin's life.
- William Godwin A detailed biography and texts.
- Blupete - On William Godwin A 1825 essay in The Spirit of the Age, by William Hazlitt.
- William Godwin A biographical essay by Peter Landry.
- The Half-Told And Mangled Tale of Caleb Williams An essay by Julian Darius on William Godwin's novel.
- William Godwin Biographical entry from the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
- William Godwin Includes categorized links to books, articles, encyclopedia entries and other biographical material.
- William Godwin and Informal Education An article exploring this thinker's contribution to the theory of education, paying particular attention to informal education and lifelong learning. By Mark K. Smith.
- William Godwin A short biography.