Henry Fielding (1707 – 1754) was an English novelist and dramatist known for his earthy humour and satire. Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park, in Glastonbury, the home of his maternal grandparents.Henry’s father, Edmund Fielding 1680-1741), served in the British military and Henry’s mother, Sarah Gould (1682-1718) died when the boy was 10. Edmund then left his children – 5 girls and a boy plus Edmund, the eldest—with their maternal grandmother’s sister, Katherine Cottington at East Stour in Dorset, while he moved to London and quickly remarried. In 1720, Henry’s maternal grandmother, Lady Gould, took Edmund to court and gained custody of her grandchildewn in 1722. Fielding's comic novel Tom Jones is still widely appreciated. He and Samuel Richardson are seen as founders of the traditional English novel. He also holds a place in the history of law enforcement, having used his authority as a magistrate to found the Bow Street Runners, London's first intermittently funded, full-time police force.