Fear of danger is ten thousand times more terrifying than danger itself.

Daniel Defoe

A stone memorial stands in Bunhill Fields, City Road, London.  Like every other memorial or statue in London, it’s there for a reason.  In this incredible city with its remarkable history there are heroes and villains, some who are more obvious than others, but all have left some sort of mark.  From the dark streets of the east end to the vibrant more opulent west, history explains who and what have shaped this, in some respects, not so fair city. The stone memorial in Bunhill Fields is dedicated to a writer by the name of Daniel Defoe.

Born Daniel Foe around 1660 allegedly in the parish of St Giles Cripplegate, he added the De to his surname later in life so that he sounded more prestigious. Of course I couldn’t find any exact records of his birth so I’m going on the estimate. When the great fire of London swept through the city in 1665, 70,000 were killed and strangely his family home and two others in the neighbourhood were left standing. It’s incredible when you think about the magnitude of the fire. Unfortunately for Daniel, two years later Chatham was attacked by a Dutch Fleet that sailed up the Medway via the Thames. So by the age of let’s say seven, he had experienced two significant events in the history of London as we know it today.

Memorial in Bunhill Fields

Defoe was ambitious, although, he was rarely out of debt.  He married in 1684 and the dowry of his wife was a considerable amount which helped somewhat, but didn’t clear the debt. Like so many others, Defoe was arrested for his debts.  Upon his release, he travelled for a while, but returned to England and started writing by way of political pamphlets and essays.  Arrested again he went to prison once more and it wasn’t until 1719 that Robinson Crusoe was published.

Most of us know the story of Crusoe and how he was shipwrecked, but there’s more to it than a man surviving on an island.  The book includes Crusoe’s creation of his own community and when you create your own community, you can govern the way you want to. Perhaps this had something to do with Defoe’s political views.  In the book it seems that Robinson Crusoe can do anything including rescue people and converting them to Christianity.  It seems a little far-fetched, but when you write a novel it comes from you and your own ideas.

Defoe was one of the pioneers of the English novel as we know it and helped to make this form of writing popular. Along with writers such as John Bunyan and Jonathan Swift, he played an extremely important part in the history of literature by writing over 500 books, pamphlets and journals all on several different topics and while I’ve found out quite about the writer, I wish I knew more about his personal life.

I kind of stumbled across this by accident.

In this ever-changing world where one man’s views aren’t always shared by others, it’s sometimes difficult to stand up and say what’s on your mind.  Every now and then you find someone who has a voice and isn’t swayed by popular opinion. I believe Daniel Defoe was one such person. Brave and heroic and an individual like his Robinson Crusoe. That’s why it gives me great pleasure to tell you that Once upon a time in London, a man had not just an idea, but the strength to go through with it.