include West Horsley Place, Slyfield Manor, and the Guildhall in Guildford. Notable people Literature Besides its role in Elizabethan and Jacobean theatre, many important writers have lived and worked in Surrey. The Owl and the Nightingale, one of the earliest Middle English poems, may have been written by one Nicholas of Guildford, who is mentioned in its text. John Donne (1572–1631) lived and worked for a time in Pyrford. John Evelyn (1620–1706) was born and spent much of his life in Wotton, and is buried there. Daniel Defoe (1659/61–1731) was educated in Dorking. William Cobbett (1763–1835) was born and raised in Farnham, later lived in Wyke, where he died, and is buried in Farnham; Surrey features prominently in his Rural Rides. Thomas Love Peacock (1785–1866) lived in Lower Halliford, then part of Middlesex, now in Surrey. Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) wrote Coningsby while living in Dorking. Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892) spent the latter part of his life, and died, in Haslemere. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) wrote part of The Pickwick Papers in Dorking, and refers to the town in the novel. Robert Browning (1812–1889) was born in Camberwell, then part of Surrey. George Eliot (1819–1880) wrote most of Middlemarch while living in Haslemere. Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) lived in Laleham, then part of Middlesex, now in Surrey. George Meredith (1828–1909) lived at Box Hill. Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) spent much of his time at his sisters' home in Guildford, where he wrote Through the Looking-Glass; he died there and is buried in the town. Isabella Beeton (1836–1865) lived for several years in Epsom, where her step-father was clerk of the racecourse. George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) lived in Woking and later in Hindhead, where he wrote Caesar and Cleopatra. Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930) lived and wrote many of his books in Hindhead and served as deputy lieutenant of Surrey; the county forms a setting for several of the Sherlock Holmes stories. J. M. Barrie (1860–1937) lived in Tilford, and based The Boy Castaways, which later evolved into Peter Pan, in the nearby countryside. H. G. Wells (1866–1946) wrote The War of the Worlds while living in Woking; much of northern Surrey is laid waste in the course of the story. John Galsworthy (1867–1933) was born in Kingston and the Forsyte Saga is partly set in the area. E. M. Forster (1879–1970) lived and wrote in Weybridge and Abinger Hammer. P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) was born in