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Born in Cornwall, England
Parents were Alec Golding and Mildred Golding -
He grew up in Marlborough, Wiltshire
He had an older brother named Joseph
He began writing at 7 years old and failed to write a novel at 12 -
He received his early education at Marlborough Grammar School
In 1930, he went to Brasenose College at Oxford to study natural sciences and later switched to English literature -
His first published work was a collection of poems in 1934, which received small attention
He tried acting afterwards
He began teaching in 1935 and later at Bishop Wordsworth's School in Salisbury, a role he held before and after the war
Golding served in the Royal Navy from 1940
seeing action in the sinking of the Bismarck and participating in the 1944 D-Day invasion
After the war, witnessing human evil on both sides, profoundly shaped his view of humans and influenced Lord of the Flies.