John Pinney, merchant venturer, built this house on returning from the West Indies. He made a fortune on plantations and continued to prosper in Bristol as a sugar merchant. In the grand drawing room of the house, his sons John Frederick and Azariah entertained parties of the local literary circle. William and Dorothy Wordsworth stayed here in August and September 1795, before they moved to Pinney's house in Dorset. It was here, in September, that Coleridge and Southey met Wordworth for the first time. Of the occasion, Wordsworth wrote: 'Coleridge was at Bristol part of the time I was there, I saw but little of him. I wished indeed to have seen more - his talent appears to me very great. I met with Southey also, his manners pleased me exceedingly and I have every reason to think very highly of his powers of mind' (letters, p. 153).