Robert Perceval Graves (9 March 1810 in Dublin – 5 October 1893 in Dublin) was an Irish biographer and clergyman, brother of both mathematician and bishop Charles Graves and jurist and mathematician John T. Graves. He was a brother-in-law of the German historian

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

who was married to his sister Helena Clarissa, and an uncle of the poet

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

. Graves is best known for his three-volume biography of W. R. Hamilton.

Life and career

Robert Perceval Graves was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was educated in classics at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

(TCD), where he became a Scholar in 1830, got a BA in 1832 (Gold Medal) and an MA in 1837.Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860)
Burtchaell, G.D/Sadlier, Dublin, A. Thom & Co., 1935, T.U p. 342. From 1833 to 1864 he worked as a clergyman in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...

in England, where he became friends with

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication '' Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ...

and

Hartley Coleridge Hartley Coleridge, possibly David Hartley Coleridge (19 September 1796 – 6 January 1849), was an English poet, biographer, essayist, and teacher. He was the eldest son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His sister Sara Coleridge was a poet a ...

. On 31 May 1842 he married Helena Hutchins Bellasis (1809-1888), daughter of George Hutchins Bellasis (1778-1822), Captain in H.M. 19th Regt. of Light Dragoons, and Charlotte Maude (1778-1857), of Holly Hill, Windermere. He spent the last thirty years of his life back in Dublin, where he was sub-dean of the Chapel Royal, and taught at

Alexandra College Alexandra College () is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its name from Princess Alexandra of ...

and also served as Vice Warden there. He was an early proponent of women being allowed access to the highest echelons of education, and in 1892 he published the pamphlet "Suggestions on the Subject of University Degrees for Women" in which he urged that his alma mater TCD should admit female students (which they finally did in 1904).Rev Robert Perceval Graves
Michael Farri.blogspot, August 6, 2009 R. P. Graves is best remembered for his wide-ranging three volume ''Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton'', published in 1882, 1885, 1889. TCD recognised his accomplishment by awarding him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1890. Graves died on 5 October 1893, and was interred at Mount Jerome, Dublin, on 9 October following a service at the Chapel Royal, Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Robert Perceval 1810 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Irish Anglican priests Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Burials at Mount Jerome Cemetery and Crematorium 19th-century Irish biographers Irish male non-fiction writers William Rowan Hamilton Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Graves family Writers from County Dublin Christian clergy from County Dublin