Ernest Dowson was born in
Lee, then in Kent, in 1867. His great-uncle was
Alfred Domett, a
Prime Minister of New Zealand. Dowson attended
The Queen's College, Oxford, but left in March 1888 without obtaining a
degree. In November 1888, Dowson started work at Dowson & Son, his father's
dry-docking business in
Limehouse, East London. He led an active
social life, carousing with medical students and law pupils, visiting
music halls, and taking the performers to dinner. In 1891, Dowson converted to Roman Catholicism, and in 1893 he proposed to Adelaide Foltinowicz, the daughter of a
Polish restaurant-owner. She rejected his proposal and later married a tailor. Dowson was a member of the
Rhymers' Club, and a contributor to
literary magazines such as
The Yellow Book and
The Savoy. In October 1892, he was commissioned by
William Theodore Peters to write a rhyming playlet that would ultimately become
The Pierrot of the Minute (1897). He collaborated with Arthur Moore on two unsuccessful novels, worked on a novel of his own,
Madame de Viole, and wrote reviews for
The Critic. Later in his career Dowson became a
translator of French fiction, including novels by
Balzac and the
Goncourt brothers, and
Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. In August 1894, Dowson's father, suffering from
tuberculosis, died of an overdose of
Chlorodyne. In February 1895 his mother, who also had tuberculosis,
hanged herself. Soon after her death Dowson's health began to decline rapidly.
Leonard Smithers gave Dowson an allowance to live in France and make translations for him. However, in 1897 Dowson returned to London to live with the Foltinowicz family. In 1899
Robert Sherard found Dowson almost penniless in a wine bar. Sherard took him to his cottage in
Catford, where Dowson spent his last six weeks. On 23 February 1900, Dowson died in Catford at the age of 32. He was interred in Lewisham Cemetery later renamed Ladywell Cemetery of the present twinned cemeteries of
Brockley and Ladywell Cemeteries in London. ==Works==