Editing Thomas Gray (section)

==Early life and education==
Thomas Gray was born in [[Cornhill, London]]. His father, Philip Gray, was a [[scrivener]] and his mother, Dorothy Antrobus, was a [[milliner]].<ref name="Broadview Press">{{cite book|title=The Broadview Anthology of British Literature|publisher=Broadview Press|pages=1516–1517|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UGxegEzVNJEC|edition=Second|editor=Joseph Black}}</ref> He was the fifth of twelve children, and the only one to survive infancy.<ref name="ODNB">John D. Baird, 'Gray, Thomas (1716–1771)', ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11356 Accessed 21 February 2012]</ref> An 1803 newspaper article including a biography of Gray suggests that Gray almost died in infancy due to suffocation from a fullness of blood. However, his mother “ventured to open a vein with her own hand, which instantly removed the paroxysm,” saving his life.<ref>{{Cite news |date=13 August 1803 |title=Biography of Thomas Gray |volume=3 |work=The Port-Folio |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/89478153 |access-date=6 December 2022|id={{ProQuest|89478153}} }}</ref> He lived with his mother after she left his abusive and mentally unwell father.<!-- NOTE:  Commenting out this extraordinary medical claim from a non-medical source.  Please find a better reference if restored, ideally one that explains the circumstances. --><!--Gray's mother once saved his life by opening one of his veins with her hands.--><ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes|chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/220/0601.html|edition=Volume 10|editor=A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller|access-date=15 April 2014|chapter=Gray's Family and Life}}</ref>

Gray's mother paid for him to go to [[Eton College]], where his uncles Robert and William Antrobus worked. Robert became Gray's first teacher and helped inspire in Gray a love for [[botany]] and observational science. Gray's other uncle, William, became his tutor.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes|chapter-url=http://www.bartleby.com/220/0601.html|edition=Volume 10|editor=A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller|access-date=15 April 2014|chapter=Gray's family and life}}</ref> He recalled his schooldays as a time of great happiness, as is evident in his "[[s:Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College|Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College]]". Gray was a delicate and scholarly boy who spent his time reading and avoiding [[sport|athletics]]. He lived in his uncle's household rather than at college. He made three close friends at Eton: [[Horace Walpole]], son of the Prime Minister [[Robert Walpole]]; Thomas Ashton; and Richard West, son of another [[Richard West (Lord Chancellor of Ireland)|Richard West]] (who was briefly [[Lord Chancellor of Ireland]]). The four prided themselves on their sense of style, sense of humour, and appreciation of beauty. They were called the "quadruple alliance".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes|url=http://www.bartleby.com/220/0601.html|edition=Volume 10|editor=A. W. Ward & A. R. Waller|access-date=15 April 2014}}</ref> Gray’s nickname in the “Quadruple Alliance” was Orozmades, “the Zoroastrian divinity, who is mentioned in [[Nathaniel Lee|Lee’s]] ''[[The Rival Queens]]'' as a ‘dreadful god’ who from his cave issues groans and shrieks to predict the fall of [[Babylon]].”<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Haggerty |first=George E. |title=Men in Love: Masculinity and Sexuality in the Eighteenth Century |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1999 |location=New York |pages=}}</ref>

In 1734, Gray went up to [[Peterhouse, Cambridge]].<ref>{{acad|GRY734T2|Thomas Gray}}</ref> He found the curriculum dull. He wrote letters to friends listing all the things he disliked: the masters ("mad with Pride") and the Fellows ("sleepy, drunken, dull, illiterate Things"). Intended by his family for the law, he spent most of his time as an undergraduate reading classical and modern literature, and playing [[Antonio Vivaldi|Vivaldi]] and [[Domenico Scarlatti|Scarlatti]] on the [[harpsichord]] for relaxation. 

In 1738, he accompanied his old school friend Walpole on his [[Grand Tour]] of [[Europe]], possibly at Walpole's expense. The two fell out and parted in [[Tuscany]] because Walpole wanted to attend fashionable parties and Gray wanted to visit all the [[antiquities]]. They were reconciled a few years later. It was Walpole who later helped publish Gray's poetry. When Gray sent his most famous poem, "Elegy", to Walpole, Walpole sent off the poem as a manuscript and it appeared in different magazines. Gray then published the poem himself and received the credit he was due.<ref name="Broadview Press"/>