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Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum

1901 establishments in EnglandBiographical museums in StaffordshireBirthplaces of individual peopleBuildings and structures in LichfieldGrade I listed buildings in Staffordshire
Grade I listed housesGrade I listed museum buildingsHistoric house museums in StaffordshireLiterary museums in EnglandMuseums in StaffordshireSamuel JohnsonTimber framed buildings in StaffordshireUse British English from August 2013
Johnsons Birthplace
Johnsons Birthplace

Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum is a biographical museum and bookshop located in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in England. The building is a Grade I listed building situated at the corner of Market Street and Breadmarket Street opposite the market square.The museum opened in 1901 and is dedicated to the life and works of the author and lexicographer Samuel Johnson who wrote the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. Johnson's father built the house in 1707 and Samuel was born in the house on 18 September 1709 and spent the majority of his first 27 years in the house before leaving for London in 1737. The house was used as a commercial property for various trades between the time of Johnson's death in 1784 until the house was bought for the city by John Gilbert in 1900 for the purpose of retaining the building as a museum to Johnson. The house remains in active use as a museum.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Breadmarket Street, Lichfield Dimbles

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Latitude Longitude
N 52.683481 ° E -1.827886 °
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Market Square

Breadmarket Street
WS13 6LG Lichfield, Dimbles
England, United Kingdom
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Johnsons Birthplace
Johnsons Birthplace
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Lichfield
Lichfield

Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly 18 miles (29 km) south-east of the county town of Stafford, 8.1 miles (13.0 km) south-east of Rugeley, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Walsall, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) north-west of Tamworth and 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Burton Upon Trent. At the time of the 2011 Census, the population was estimated at 32,219 and the wider Lichfield District at 100,700.Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city's recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his Bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 5.9 km (3.7 mi) south-west of Lichfield. The development of the city was consolidated in the 12th century under Roger de Clinton, who fortified the Cathedral Close and also laid out the town with the ladder-shaped street pattern that survives to this day. Lichfield's heyday was in the 18th century, when it developed into a thriving coaching city. This was a period of great intellectual activity; the city was the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward, prompting Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers". Today, the city still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, and its industrial and commercial development has been limited. The centre of the city has over 230 listed buildings (including many examples of Georgian architecture) and preserves much of its historic character.