He was born in Lincolnshire, a rector's son. His father had fallen out with his family and been disinherited; he drank heavily and became mentally unstable. Tennyson and two of his elder brothers were writing poetry in their teens, and a collection of poems by all three was published locally when Alfred was only seventeen. One of those brothers, Charles Tennyson Turner, later married Louisa Sellwood, younger sister of Alfred's future wife; the other poet brother was Frederick Tennyson. Educated at Louth grammar school and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he joined the secret society called the Cambridge Apostles, Alfred Tennyson published his first solo collection of poems in 1830. Although decried by critics as over-sentimental, his verse soon proved popular. One of his best-known poems, The Lady of Shalott, appeared in his second collection in 1833.


Kill count:

RIP:
SI:
BH: I