Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) was born to Matthew Lewis (1750-1812) and Frances Maria Sewell.
His family was well connected politically, as his father was chief clerk and Deputy Secretary at War, as well as having owned several slave plantations in Jamaica. The maternal half of his family were also Jamaican colonists and his maternal Great Uncle, Robert Sewell, eventually became attorney general of Jamaica. His maternal Grandfather, Sir Thomas Sewell, held the second most senior judicial seat in England and Wales, possessing the title Master of the Rolls.
His parents eventually separated in 1781, during which time Frances Sewell left Matthew Lewis for a music instructor named Harrison with whom she birthed an illegitimate child in 1782. Besides him, Matthew Gregory Lewis had three younger legitimate siblings from the maternal portion of his family: Maria; Barrington, who died prematurely from a spinal injury, and Sophia Elizabeth.
Despite the scandalous events of Frances Sewell’s adult life, Matthew Gregory remained loyal to his mother, even going so far as to pursue literary activities with the intent to raise funds in support of her. In addition to possessing an early talent for literary endeavors, Matthew Gregory showed extensive giftedness in the arts with a penchant for music.
Matthew Gregory Lewis was enrolled in preparatory school at Marylebone Seminary in June of 1783 when he was nearly eight-years-old, embarking on creative pursuits while there as an actor in the Town Boys’ play. He graduated in the customary four years from Christ Church, Oxford, on April 16, 1790.
Having completed his studies, Lewis spent the summer of 1791 in Paris during which time he completed a farce, The Epistolary Intrigue, and parodied The Effusions of Sensibility, or, Letters from Lady Honorina Harrow-Heart to Miss Sophonsiba Simper. He continued to pursue creative ventures, having completed his comedy The East Indian by 1791, a work he based on Frances Sheridan’s novel Sidney Bidulph. Though it wasn’t until 1799 at Drury Lane that The East Indian was enlivened with its first performance.
Following the aforementioned creative ventures, Matthew Gregory Lewis travelled to Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to study German in preparation for a diplomatic career to appease his father. Rather than become completely engrossed by diplomatic pursuits, customary to his creative inclinations, Lewis became more intrigued by Weimar’s extensive literary and dramatic culture. During his time there, Lewis met with Goethe and Wieland, developing his taste for the German Schauerroman, or, “spine chiller”, which he was noted for bringing to British audiences.
Matthew Gregory Lewis returned to Oxford in early 1793, but returned to Scotland during Easter vacation to stay with Lord Bothwell at Bothwell Castle and with the duke of Buccleuch at Dalkeith. During this time, Lewis translated Schiller’s work, Kabale and Liebe. The following year, in May of 1794, after having received his bachelor’s degree, Lewis became attaché to Lord St Helens, a British ambassador at The Hague, a position largely obtained through his father’s political connectedness. Lewis soon became bored with Dutch Society, having frequented the salon of Mme de Matignon, composed mostly of Dutch expats where he gleamed insights into the negatives to war.
Later Life:
Most of Lewis’ later life was consumed by the plantations he had inherited when his father died in 1812. The financial responsibilities caused Lewis to abstain from his literary career, and he went to survey his inheritance of Westmoreland and Hordley in Jamaica in 1815. Since the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 made it illegal to purchase new slaves, Lewis had to restructure and reform his plantations to make them modernized and profitable; this included the production of the slaves. While he lived at Westmoreland for a year, he made dramatic changes for the improvement of slave living conditions. He detailed his radical changes in A Journal of a West Indies Proprietor, and at the end of the year he set back to England for a continental land tour. From 1816 until November of 1817, he met with Lord Byron, Shelley and Polidori and traveled from Geneva to Florence, Rome and Naples. He set up legal documents, signed by the three authors, that ensured the protection of his new policies on the plantations. For the remainder of his life, he seemed consumed with modernizing his plantations and kept up communications with those in charge in Jamaica; he monitored the treatment and production of his 400 slaves. When Lewis returned to Jamaica in the same month after the papers were signed, he attempted to institute the changes at Hordley.
On his way back to England, he contracted yellow fever and died on the ship on May 16, 1818. He was buried at sea on the same day. However, the chains that were weighing down the coffin had slipped off, and the coffin rose back up. When his crewmen last saw him, Lewis’ body was floating back towards Jamaica.
His family was well connected politically, as his father was chief clerk and Deputy Secretary at War, as well as having owned several slave plantations in Jamaica. The maternal half of his family were also Jamaican colonists and his maternal Great Uncle, Robert Sewell, eventually became attorney general of Jamaica. His maternal Grandfather, Sir Thomas Sewell, held the second most senior judicial seat in England and Wales, possessing the title Master of the Rolls.
His parents eventually separated in 1781, during which time Frances Sewell left Matthew Lewis for a music instructor named Harrison with whom she birthed an illegitimate child in 1782. Besides him, Matthew Gregory Lewis had three younger legitimate siblings from the maternal portion of his family: Maria; Barrington, who died prematurely from a spinal injury, and Sophia Elizabeth.
Despite the scandalous events of Frances Sewell’s adult life, Matthew Gregory remained loyal to his mother, even going so far as to pursue literary activities with the intent to raise funds in support of her. In addition to possessing an early talent for literary endeavors, Matthew Gregory showed extensive giftedness in the arts with a penchant for music.
Matthew Gregory Lewis was enrolled in preparatory school at Marylebone Seminary in June of 1783 when he was nearly eight-years-old, embarking on creative pursuits while there as an actor in the Town Boys’ play. He graduated in the customary four years from Christ Church, Oxford, on April 16, 1790.
Having completed his studies, Lewis spent the summer of 1791 in Paris during which time he completed a farce, The Epistolary Intrigue, and parodied The Effusions of Sensibility, or, Letters from Lady Honorina Harrow-Heart to Miss Sophonsiba Simper. He continued to pursue creative ventures, having completed his comedy The East Indian by 1791, a work he based on Frances Sheridan’s novel Sidney Bidulph. Though it wasn’t until 1799 at Drury Lane that The East Indian was enlivened with its first performance.
Following the aforementioned creative ventures, Matthew Gregory Lewis travelled to Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach to study German in preparation for a diplomatic career to appease his father. Rather than become completely engrossed by diplomatic pursuits, customary to his creative inclinations, Lewis became more intrigued by Weimar’s extensive literary and dramatic culture. During his time there, Lewis met with Goethe and Wieland, developing his taste for the German Schauerroman, or, “spine chiller”, which he was noted for bringing to British audiences.
Matthew Gregory Lewis returned to Oxford in early 1793, but returned to Scotland during Easter vacation to stay with Lord Bothwell at Bothwell Castle and with the duke of Buccleuch at Dalkeith. During this time, Lewis translated Schiller’s work, Kabale and Liebe. The following year, in May of 1794, after having received his bachelor’s degree, Lewis became attaché to Lord St Helens, a British ambassador at The Hague, a position largely obtained through his father’s political connectedness. Lewis soon became bored with Dutch Society, having frequented the salon of Mme de Matignon, composed mostly of Dutch expats where he gleamed insights into the negatives to war.
Later Life:
Most of Lewis’ later life was consumed by the plantations he had inherited when his father died in 1812. The financial responsibilities caused Lewis to abstain from his literary career, and he went to survey his inheritance of Westmoreland and Hordley in Jamaica in 1815. Since the Abolition of the Slave Trade in 1807 made it illegal to purchase new slaves, Lewis had to restructure and reform his plantations to make them modernized and profitable; this included the production of the slaves. While he lived at Westmoreland for a year, he made dramatic changes for the improvement of slave living conditions. He detailed his radical changes in A Journal of a West Indies Proprietor, and at the end of the year he set back to England for a continental land tour. From 1816 until November of 1817, he met with Lord Byron, Shelley and Polidori and traveled from Geneva to Florence, Rome and Naples. He set up legal documents, signed by the three authors, that ensured the protection of his new policies on the plantations. For the remainder of his life, he seemed consumed with modernizing his plantations and kept up communications with those in charge in Jamaica; he monitored the treatment and production of his 400 slaves. When Lewis returned to Jamaica in the same month after the papers were signed, he attempted to institute the changes at Hordley.
On his way back to England, he contracted yellow fever and died on the ship on May 16, 1818. He was buried at sea on the same day. However, the chains that were weighing down the coffin had slipped off, and the coffin rose back up. When his crewmen last saw him, Lewis’ body was floating back towards Jamaica.
Nigel Leask. "Lewis, Matthew Gregory (1775–1818)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2004. 21 Oct 2014.