Thomas Carlyle was born in Scotland, the second son of James Carlyle and the first child of Carlyle's second marriage. After studying at Annan Academy and the University of Edinburgh, Thomas Carlyle took a teaching post in mathematics at Annan Academy.

After teaching for a few years, Carlyle returned to the University of Edinburgh to study law; he also began seriously studying German literature, particularly the works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832). In 1826 he married Jane Welsh, and in the early years of their marriage he wrote for the Edinburgh Review and worked on a semi-autobiographical novel, Sartor Resartus (1833-1834).

Carlyle completed his historical accounting of the French Revolution in 1837. The work was a popular success, giving Carlyle lecturing opportunities. Other publications followed, including Chartism (1840) and Oliver Cromwell's Letters and Speeches. With Elucidations (1845).

Carlyle's wife died in 1866, and though Carlyle continued writing, including publishing an edited selection of his wife's letters, he never completely recovered from her death.

[Information retrieved from the Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Carlyle.]