Biography
Sterne was born in Clonmel, Ireland, on November 24, 1713, the
son of an English army officer. After spending his early years moving about with his father's regiment, he attended school in Yorkshir. Sterne received a bachelor of arts degree from Jesus College, Cambridge. His marriage to Elizabeth Lumley proved unhappy.
In 1743 Sterne published his first verses, The Unknown World, Verses Occasioned by Hearing a Pass-Bell. But his verses and the second work The History of a Good Warm Watch had prepared the English reading audience for the first two volumes of Tristram Shandy.