1795 - Born 4 December in Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, south west Scotland, the son of a poor Calvinist stonemason, and later farmer, and his wife Margaret. He is the eldest of nine children.

1801 - Jane Baillie Walsh, the daughter of a doctor, born 14 July in Haddington, Scotland.

1809 - Completes schooling at Annan Academy and walks 80 miles to attend Edinburgh University, where he begins to prepare for a life in the ministry.

1814 - Leaves university without graduating. Returns to Annan Academy to teach. Begins reading German literature and philosophy.

1818 - 22 - Spiritual Crisis leads him to abandon the Christian faith.

1823 - 24 - His first important work, The Life of Schiller, serialised in the London Magazine.

1823 - 24 - Translation of Goethe's Wilhelm Meister appears in the London Magazine.

1826 - Marries Jane in October and moves to Comeley Bank, Edinburgh. Begins but fails to finish a novel, Wotton Reinfred.

1828 - Moves to Craigenputtock, a remote moorland farmhouse.

1829 - Publishes Sign of the Times, about the spirit of the age, in the Edinburgh Review.

1831 - Writes major work Sartor Resartus but fails to find a publisher, although extracts are published in Fraser's Magazine. Meets leading writer John Stuart Mill.

1834 - Moves to 24 (then 5) Cheyne Row. Begins work on The French Revolution.

1835 - Manuscript of the first volume of The French Revolution accidentally destroyed at John Stuart Mill's house after Carlyle lends him the only copy to read.

1837 - Re-writes lost volume, completes and publishes The French Revolution.

1838 - Sartor Resartus, considered during his lifetime as his greatest work, published in England.

1840 - 47 - Embarks on celebrated and lucrative series of lectures, including On Heroes and Hero-worship (1840), Chartism (1840) and Past and Present (1843).

1843 - Lady Harriet Baring, later Lady Ashburton, becomes his unofficial patron. Carlyle remains devoted to her until her death in 1857, to the chagrin of his wife.

1845 - Publishes The Letter and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. Large and distinguished social circle includes Browning, Dickens and Tennyson.

1850 - The controversial Latter Day Pamphlets are published, tackling issues such as corporal punishment, the Irish and slavery and denting his reputation for a while.

1852 - Begins to write Frederick the Great, unaware it is to take him 13 years to complete, partly because of a growing irritation with noise.

1858 - First two volumes of Frederick the Great published, with the third in 1863, the fourth in 1964 and the last two in 1865.

1866 - Jane dies while Carlyle is in Edinburgh to give his inaugural address as Lord Rector of Edinburgh University. He begins to edit her diary and letters. His niece Mary comes to keep house for him.

1869 - Meets Queen Victoria, who finds him gloomy and dour. An increasingly shaky right hand leads him to begin dictating his work.

1874 - Refuses baronetcy offered by Disraeli, but accepts Prussian Order of Merit from Bismarck.

1881 - Dies and is laid to rest, in accordance with his wishes, in Ecclefechen churchyard.