Henry Crabb Robinson (1775 - 1867), diarist, born at Bury St. Edmunds,
was articled to an attorney in Colchester. Between 1800 and 1805 he
studied at various places in Germany, and became acquainted with nearly
all the great men of letters there, including Goethe, Schiller, Herder,
Wieland, etc. Thereafter he became war correspondent to the Times in
the Peninsula. On his return to London he studied for the Bar, to which
he was called in 1813, and became leader of the Eastern Circuit. Fifteen
years later he retired, and by virtue of his great conversational powers
and other qualities, became a leader in society, going everywhere and
knowing everybody worth knowing. He died unmarried, aged 91, and his
Diary, Reminiscences and Correspondence , which stands in the forefront
of its class, was published in 1869.
