Henry Fielding was an English writer and magistrate. He was born in Somerset in 1707.

The
son of an army lieutenant and a judge's daughter, he was educated at Eton School and the
University of Leiden before returning to England where he wrote a series of farces, operas and
light comedies.
He formed his own company and was running the Little Theatre, Haymarket, when one of his
satirical plays began to upset the government. The passing of the Theatrical Licensing Act in
1737 effectively ended Fielding's career as a playwright.
In 1739 Fielding turned to journalism and became editor of The Champion. He also began
writing novels, including: The Adventures of Joseph Andrews (1742), Abraham Adams (1742)
and Jonathan Wild (1743).
Fielding was made a justice of the peace for Westminster and Middlesex in 1748. He
campaigned against legal corruption and helped his half-brother, Sir John Fielding, establish the
Bow Street Runners.
Fielding continued as a journalist and his satirical journal, Covent Garden, continued to upset
those in power. Throughout his life, Fielding suffered from poor health and by 1752 he could not
move without the help of crutches. In an attempt to overcome his health problems, Henry
Fielding went to live in Portugal but this was not successful and he died in Lisbon in 1754.

His greatest work is The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom
Jones, is a comic novel by English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. It was first published
on 28 February 1749 in London and is among the earliest English works to be classified as a
novel.
It is dedicated to George Lyttleton, a boyhood friend from Eton.
The novel takes place against the backdrop of the Jacobite rising of 1745.
Characters: Tom Jones, Squire Allworthy, Sophia Western.

The kindly and wealthy Squire Allworthy and his sister Bridget are introduced in their
wealthy estate in Somerset. Allworthy returns from London after an extended business trip and
finds an abandoned baby sleeping in his bed. He summons his housekeeper, Mrs Deborah
Wilkins, to take care of the child.
After searching the nearby village, Mrs Wilkins is told about a young woman called Jenny
Jones, servant of a schoolmaster and his wife, as the most likely person to have committed the
deed. Jenny is brought before them and admits being the baby's mother but refuses to reveal the
father's identity. Mr Allworthy mercifully removes Jenny to a place where her reputation will be
unknown. Furthermore, he promises his sister to raise the boy, whom he names Thomas, in his
household. ...

The novel triumphs as a presentation of English life and character in the mid-18th century.
Every social type is represented and through them every shade of moral behaviour. Fielding's
varied style tempers the basic seriousness of the novel and his authorial comment before each
chapter adds a dimension to a conventional, straightforward narrative.

The main theme of the novel is the contrast between Tom Jones's good nature, flawed but
eventually corrected by his love for virtuous Sophia Western, and his half-brother Blifil's
hypocrisy. Characters take different sides over the rebellion, which was an attempt to restore
Roman Catholicism and to undo the Glorious Revolution.