author
Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence
1837–1914
Best remembered as one of the most energetic champions of the Baconian theory, he brought legal training, political experience, and real determination to the Shakespeare authorship debate. His books and public arguments helped keep that controversy alive well into the early 20th century.
2 Audiobooks
The Shakespeare Myth
by Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence
Bacon is Shake-Speare Together with a Reprint of Bacon's Promus of Formularies and Elegancies
by Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence
About the author
Born in London on 2 February 1837, Sir Edwin Durning-Lawrence was a British lawyer, politician, and writer. He studied at University College School and University College London, later becoming a barrister. In public life he served as Member of Parliament for Truro, and he was created a baronet in 1898.
He is most often remembered today for his forceful support of the Baconian theory, the claim that Francis Bacon wrote the works attributed to William Shakespeare. Durning-Lawrence published several books on the subject and argued for the idea with unusual energy, making him one of the best-known anti-Stratfordian voices of his era.
He died on 21 April 1914. Alongside his political and legal career, his lasting place in literary history comes from the way he turned the Shakespeare authorship question into a public campaign rather than a private curiosity.