Percy Florence Shelley Bysshe Shelley, his namesake, and his wife author Mary Shelley. His elder siblings, consisting of a premature girl who died at few weeks old and a brother and a sister who died in childhood left him as the only surviving child as his mother suffered a miscarriage in 1822. His parents lived in Italy for several years, until his father drowned off Livorno, whereupon his mother moved back to England with him. Mary Shelley never remarried; Percy Florence had no further siblings. He joined Harrow School in 1832, and went up to Trinity College, Cambridge in October 1837. Shelley inherited
The Life of Percy Bysshe Shelley not mention the atheism that he shared with Percy Shelley, fearing the effect that this disclosure could have on his reputation. He went to great lengths in the book to portray himself as conservative and loyal to the traditions of England. Hogg was careful not to divulge potentially embarrassing information about Shelley's living friends, however. He also failed to mention his own passion for Harriet Shelley, Percy Shelley's first wife. Harriet was portrayed very favourably in the book, although Hogg did discuss her preoccupation with suicide. Percy's father Timothy Shelley was portrayed very negatively, and the book characterized Percy Shelley