In search of Robinson Cruso(e)

Where did Daniel Defoe come up with the name Robinson Crusoe?

Visitors have long been intrigued by the ‘Robinson Cruso’ ledger stones in  St Nicholas’ Chapel, King’s Lynn.   Daniel Defoe, author of the famous classic tale, Robinson Crusoe (1719) certainly came to Lynn, and enjoyed himself.   He wrote in his Tour through the Eastern Counties of England (1722): ‘Here are more gentry, and consequently is more gaiety in this town than in Yarmouth, or even in Norwich itself – the place abounding in very good company.’    Could Defoe’s good time in the town have caused him to use a version of the local name for his shipwrecked hero?   As well as stunning stained glass and twenty four carved angels in the roof, St Nicholas’ Chapel in Lynn has its own Robinson Crusos for you to track down.