Locke's father, who was also named John Locke, was a country lawyer and clerk to the Justices of the Peace in
Chew Magna, who had served as a captain of cavalry for the
Parliamentarian forces during the early part of the
English Civil War. His mother, Agnes Keene, was a tanner's daughter and reputed to be very beautiful. Both parents were
Puritans.
Locke was born on
August 29, 1632, in a small thatched cottage by the church in
Wrington, Somerset, about twelve miles from
Bristol. He was
baptised the same day. Soon after Locke's birth, the family moved to the
market town of
Pensford, about seven miles south of Bristol, where Locke grew up in a rural
Tudor house in
Belluton.
In
1647, Locke was sent to the prestigious
Westminster School in
London under the sponsorship of
Alexander Popham, a
member of Parliament and former commander of the younger Locke's father. After completing his studies there, he was admitted to
Christ Church, Oxford. The dean of the college at the time was
John Owen, vice-chancellor of the university. Although a capable student, Locke was irritated by the undergraduate curriculum of the time. He found the works of modern philosophers, such as
René Descartes, more interesting than the
classical material taught at the university. Through his friend Richard Lower, whom he knew from the Westminster School, Locke was introduced to medicine and the experimental philosophy being pursued at other universities and in the English
Royal Society, of which he eventually became a member.
Locke was awarded a
bachelor's degree in
1656 and a master's degree in
1658. He obtained a
bachelor of medicine in
1674, having studied
medicine extensively during his time at
Oxford and worked with such noted scientists and thinkers as
Robert Boyle, Thomas Willis, Robert Hooke and
Richard Lower. In
1666, he met Lord
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, who had come to Oxford seeking treatment for a
liver infection. Cooper was impressed with Locke and persuaded him to become part of his retinue.
Locke had been looking for a career and in
1667 moved into Shaftesbury's home at Exeter House in London, to serve as Lord Ashley's personal physician. In
London, Locke resumed his medical studies under the tutelage of
Thomas Sydenham. Sydenham had a major effect on Locke's natural philosophical thinking — an effect that would become evident in the
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.
Locke's medical knowledge was put to the test when Shaftesbury's liver
infection became life-threatening. Locke coordinated the advice of several physicians and was probably instrumental in persuading Shaftesbury to undergo an operation (then life-threatening itself) to remove the cyst. Shaftesbury survived and prospered, crediting Locke with saving his life.
It was in Shaftesbury's household, during
1671, that the meeting took place, described in the Epistle to the reader of the Essay, which was the genesis of what would later become Essay. Two extant Drafts still survive from this period. It was also during this time that Locke served as Secretary of the Board of Trade and Plantations and Secretary to the Lords and Proprietors of the Carolinas, helping to shape his ideas on international trade and economics.
Shaftesbury, as a founder of the
Whig movement, exerted great influence on Locke's political ideas. Locke became involved in politics when Shaftesbury became
Lord Chancellor in
1672. Following Shaftesbury's fall from favour in
1675, Locke spent some time travelling across
France. He returned to England in
1679 when Shaftesbury's political fortunes took a brief positive turn. Around this time, most likely at Shaftesbury's prompting, Locke composed the bulk of the
Two Treatises of Government. Locke wrote the Treatises to defend the
Glorious Revolution of 1688, but also to counter the absolutist political philosophy of Sir Robert Filmer and Thomas Hobbes. Though Locke was associated with the influential Whigs, his ideas about natural rights and government are today considered quite revolutionary for that period in English history.
However, Locke fled to the
Netherlands, Holland, in
1683, under strong suspicion of involvement in the
Rye House Plot, which was a plot against King James II (though there is little evidence to suggest that he was directly involved in the scheme). In the Netherlands Locke had time to return to his writing, spending a great deal of time re-working the Essay and composing the Letter on Toleration. Locke did not return home until after the
Glorious Revolution. Locke accompanied
William of Orange's wife back to England in 1688. The bulk of Locke's publishing took place after his arrival back in England — his aforementioned
Essay Concerning Human Understanding, the
Two Treatises of Civil Government and
A Letter Concerning Toleration all appearing in quick succession upon his return from exile.
Locke's close friend Lady Masham invited him to join her at the Mashams' country house in Essex. Although his time there was marked by variable health from
asthma attacks, he nevertheless became an intellectual hero of the
Whigs. During this period he discussed matters with such figures as
John Dryden and
Isaac Newton.
He died in October 28,
1704 after a prolonged decline in health, and is buried in the churchyard of the village of
High Laver, east of
Harlow in
Essex, where he had lived in the household of
Sir Francis Masham since
1691. Locke never married nor had children.
Events that happened during Locke's lifetime include the
English Restoration, the
Great Plague of London and the
Great Fire of London. He did not quite see the
Act of Union of
1707, though the thrones of
England and
Scotland were held by the same monarch throughout his lifetime.
Constitutional monarchy and
parliamentary democracy were in their infancy during Locke's time.
