A brief history on the life of H.G. Wells

English novelist, journalist, sociologist, and historian, whose science-fiction stories have been filmed many times. Wells's best known books are THE TIME MACHINE (1895), THE INVISIBLE MAN (1897), and THE WAR OF THE WORLDS (1898). Wells wrote over a hundred of books, about fifty of them novels.

"No one would have believed, in the last years of the nineteenth century, that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own; that as men busied themselves about their affairs they were scrutinized and studied, parhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water."
(from War of the Worlds)

H.G. Wells was born in Bromley, Kent. His father was a shopkeeper and a professional cricketer, and his mother served from time to time as a housekeeper at the nearby estate of Uppark. His father's business failed and to elevate the family to middle-class status, Wells was apprenticed like his brothers to a draper, spending the years between 1880 and 1883 in Windsor and Southsea. Later he recorded these years in KIPPS (1905). In the story Arthur Kipps is raised by his aunt and uncle. Kipps is also apprenticed to a draper. After learning that he has been left a fortune, Kipps enters the upper-class society, which Wells describes with sharp social criticism.

In 1883 Wells became a teacher/pupil at Midhurst Grammar Scool. He obtained a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London and studied there biology under T.H. Huxley. However, his interest faltered and in 1887 he left without a degree. He taught in private schools for four years, not taking his B.S. degree until 1890. Next year he settled in London, married his cousin Isabel and continued his career as a teacher in a correspondence college. From 1893 Wells became a full-time writer.

Personal Timeline

1866 H.G. Wells was born on September 21, 1866 in Bromley, Kent.
1880 Apprenticed to Windsor firm of drapers.
1883 Wells became a teacher-pupil at Midhurst Grammar School.
1887 First published story, "A Tale of the Twentieth Century".
1888 The Chronic Argonauts serialized.
1890 B.Sci degree.
1891 Wells settled in London, married his cousin Isabel and continued his career as a teacher in a correspondence college.
1893 "The Man of the Year Million". First published book, A Text Book of Biology; full-time writer henceforth.
1894 First fiction professionally published under own name: "The Stolen Bacillus" in the Pall Mall Budget, 21 June.
1895 Marries "Jane" (Amy Catherine Robbins).
1901 The First Men in the Moon. First son born to Jane: George Philip Wells.
1903 Second son born to Jane: Frank Richard Wells.
1909 Wells became the first president of the Royal College of Science Association (an organization he helped set up).
1909 Daughter born to Amber White, née Reeves: Anna White.
1914 At the outbreak of war in 1914, Wells was involved in a love affair with a young journalist, Rebecca West, 26 years his junior.
1914 Third son born to Rebecca West: Anthony West.
1922 Stands unsuccessfully for Parliament as Labour candidate for London University.
1927 Death of Jane.
1929 First Wells broadcasts on BBC Radio.
1931 Diagnosed as diabetic.
1932 The Island of Dr Moreau filmed as Island of Lost Souls.
1936 Films scripted by Wells: Things to Come and The Man Who Could Work Miracles.
1946 Wells died in London on August 13, 1946.

Novels

The Time Machine (1895)
The Wonderful Visit (1895)
The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)
The Wheels of Chance (1896)
The Invisible Man (1897)
The War of the Worlds (1898)
When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
Love and Mr Lewisham (1900)
The First Men in the Moon (1901)
The Sea Lady (1902)
The Food of the Gods and How It Came to Earth (1904)
Kipps (1905)
A Modern Utopia (1905)
In the Days of the Comet (1906)
The War in the Air (1908)
Tono-Bungay (1909)
Ann Veronica (1909)
The History of Mr Polly (1910)
The Sleeper Awakes (1910) – revised edition of When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
The New Machiavelli (1911)
Marriage (1912)
The Passionate Friends (1913)
The Wife of Sir Isaac Harman (1914)
The World Set Free (1914)
Bealby: A Holiday (1915)
Boon (1915)
The Research Magnificent (1915)
Mr Britling Sees It Through (1916)
The Soul of a Bishop (1917)
Joan and Peter: The Story of an Education (1918)
The Undying Fire (1919)
The Secret Places of the Heart (1922)
Men Like Gods (1923)
The Dream (1924)
Christina Alberta's Father (1925)
The World of William Clissold (1926)
Meanwhile (1927)
Mr Blettsworthy on Rampole Island (1928)
The Autocracy of Mr Parham (1930)
The Bulpington of Blup (1932)
The Shape of Things to Come (1933)
The Croquet Player (1936)
Brynhild (1937)
Star Begotten (1937)
The Camford Visitation (1937)
Apropos of Dolores (1938)
The Brothers (1938)
The Holy Terror (1939)
Babes in the Darkling Wood (1940)
All Aboard for Ararat (1940)
You Can't Be Too Careful (1941)