Henry Fielding Henry Fielding was born on April 22, 1707, in Sharpham Park, Somerset, England. He was a British novelist and playwright. Henry went to Eton College; he left early and lost his family's support. All his 25 plays were written at an early age. He wroteShamela in 1741, a burlesque of Samuel Richardson's Pamela that he never claimed. In the entertaining and unique work of Joseph Andrews (1742), he wrote Richardson's novel in a sarcastic way. Tom Jones (1749), his most famous book, is also noted for its incredible comic enthusiasm, a huge number of characters, and differentiated scenes of high and low life. The More Sober Amelia (1751) assumes the Victorian domestic novel. In these works, he expands the English novel as a planned, realistic narrative genre, reviewing contemporary society. Read More Read Less