With the help of Coventry City Council archives, we have collected a series of photographs and illustrations that get us closer to George Eliot’s life in Warwickshire.
| Ìý |  | Inside George Eliot's Bird Grove home
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We have photographs of her birthplace, some of the houses she lived in and some of the schools she attended in the area.
In addition, you can see a number of portraits of the writer.
Press the images button below to launch the gallery of pictures and read below about the events and places they illustrate.
Ìý| Ìý |  | Eliot's birthplace, South Farm in Arbury
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George Eliot was born to an estate worker in Arbury Park, Warwickshire, on 22 November 1819. Her first home, South Farm, is shown in the photograph gallery above.
She was named Mary Ann Evans and had not yet conceived her more famous name of later years.
Just a few months later, the family moved to Griff House, near Arbury, which is shown in the photographs.
Ìý| Ìý |  | Dame School in Griff
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She was educated at several schools, including The Elms and Miss Wallington's Boarding School in Nuneaton, Dame School, Griff, and Nantglyn on the Warwick Row, Coventry.
The Elms, Nantglyn and Dame School are shown in the photograph gallery.
Ìý| Ìý |  | Etrance to Bird Grove
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Her mother died in 1836 when Mary Ann was only 16 years old.
Five years later Mary Ann and her father moved to Foleshill near Coventry.
The house they lived in, Bird Grove, is shown in the photograph collection.
Ìý| Ìý |  | Pencil portrait From Burton's drawing
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When her father died in 1849, Mary Ann moved to London and her literary interest blossomed. One of her homes in Chelsea, London, is shown in the pictures.
Her first novel Scenes of a Clerical Life was published in 1857 under the name of George Eliot. Many of the characters and scenes in this first novel and a number that followed (Adam Bede and Mill on the Floss) reference her life in Warwickshire.
Ìý| Ìý |  | George Eliot obelisk in Nuneaton Town Centre
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She died on 22 December 1880 in London but a number of memorials keep her name very much alive in Nuneaton.
Follow the link on the left to read about a tour of Nuneaton you can follow that takes in many of the key sites associated with the great writer.
ÌýYou can search for more pictures or buy prints from Coventry Library Studies. Just follow the Pictures of Coventry link on the left.
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