William Greenwell
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Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
William Greenwell, (23 March 1820 – 27 January 1918) was an English
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsca ...
and
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
priest.


Early life

William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 at the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, England. He was the eldest son of William Thomas Greenwell (1777–1856) and Dorothy Smales. He had three brothers Francis, Alan, and Henry Nicholas Greenwell, and a sister Dorothy (1821–1882) who published poetry under the name
Dora Greenwell Dora Greenwell (6 December 1821 – 29 March 1882) was an English poet. The name "Dora Greenwell" was for many years supposed to be the pseudonym of a writer of rare spiritual insight and fine poetic genius. It was very generally surmised that ...
. After an early education by Rev George Newby, he attended Durham School. One of his schoolmates was
Henry Baker Tristram Henry Baker Tristram FRS (11 May 1822 – 8 March 1906) was an English clergyman, Bible scholar, traveller and ornithologist. As a parson-naturalist he was an early supporter of Darwinism, attempting to reconcile evolution and creation. Biogra ...
. He matriculated at
University College, Durham , motto_English = Not for ourselves alone , scarf = , established = , principal = Wendy Powers , vice_principal = Ellen Crabtree , undergraduates = 698 , postgraduates = 153 , coordinates = , location_map = Durham , map_size ...
in October 1836 and graduated
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
(BA) in June 1839. He started training to be a
barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...
at
Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...
, but owing to ill health decided to leave London and return to University College in 1841, completing a licentiate in Theology in 1842. He received a
Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
in 1843. Greenwell was ordained a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
by Bishop
Edward Maltby Edward Maltby (6 April 1770 – 3 July 1859) was an English clergyman of the Church of England. He became Bishop of Durham, controversial for his liberal politics, for his ecumenism, and for the great personal wealth that he amassed. Early ...
30 June 1844 and priest 28 June 1846. He was
bursar A bursar (derived from "bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education ...
of University College in Durham from 1844 to 1847.


Archaeology

His family estate included the site of the ancient Roman fort
Longovicium Longovicium (or Lanchester Roman Fort) was an auxiliary fort located on Roman Dere Street, in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior. It is located just southwest of Lanchester () in the English county of Durham, roughly to the west of the ...
. As a child he and his brother Frank would scoop out soil covering the camp, leading to his interest in
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landsc ...
. He was a founding member of the Tyneside Naturalists' Field Club in 1846, and later that year toured Germany and Italy. In August 1852 he presented a paper at an Archaeological Institute there. In March 1864 he excavated fourteen barrows at
Danes Graves Danes Graves is an archaeological site in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevalent in the region during the British Iron Age. It is a prehistoric cemetery site situated in Dan ...
a site of the
Arras Culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans th ...
of the
British Iron Age The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric I ...
and was subsequently criticised by
William Harrison-Broadley William Henry Harrison-Broadley (August 1820 – 1896) was a British Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1885. Harrison-Broadley was the son of William Henry Harrison of Ripon and Sinderly and his wife Mary Broad ...
for his poor excavation technique.Stead. I. 1979. Arras Culture. Yorkshire Philosophical Society: York In 1868 Greenwell excavated 76 inhumation burials from the Anglian cemetery at
Uncleby Uncleby is a hamlet in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Kirby Underdale. It is situated approximately north of Pocklington. History Uncleby is the site of an Anglian cemetery. 76 inhumation burials ...
. Greenwell undertook a large-scale excavation of 53 barrows at
Danes Graves Danes Graves is an archaeological site in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevalent in the region during the British Iron Age. It is a prehistoric cemetery site situated in Dan ...
with
John Robert Mortimer John Robert Mortimer (15 June 1825 – 19 August 1911) was an English corn-merchant and archaeologist who lived in Driffield, East Riding of Yorkshire. He was responsible for the excavation of many of the notable barrows in the Yorkshire Wolds, ...
between 1897–98. Greenwell is also noted for his work on the
Grimes Graves Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, England. It lies north east from Brandon, Suffolk in the East of England. It was worked between  2600 and  2300 BC, although production may have continued well into ...
along with his treatises on
electrum Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals. Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver. It has been produced artificially, and ...
coinage of
Cyzicus Cyzicus (; grc, Κύζικος ''Kúzikos''; ota, آیدینجق, ''Aydıncıḳ'') was an ancient Greek town in Mysia in Anatolia in the current Balıkesir Province of Turkey. It was located on the shoreward side of the present Kapıdağ Peni ...
, and cataloguing of the Late
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
finds from Heathery Burn Cave. Greenwell's enormous collection of antiquities, many of which date from the Neolithic or Bronze Age period in Britain, is now in the
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
. This was thanks to the generosity of
J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
, who bought them for £10,000. In 1895 he sold his collections of flint implements to Dr W. Allan Sturge, formerly of
Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...
. His earliest collection of note was Greek coins, which he eventually sold to a Mr. Warren of Boston, Massachusetts, with Warren later donating it to the Boston Museum. One of his students was
Augustus Pitt Rivers Lieutenant General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14 April 18274 May 1900) was an English officer in the British Army, ethnologist, and archaeologist. He was noted for innovations in archaeological methodology, and in the museum display ...
. With the money made from selling his collections he was able to repurchase his ancestral home, Greenwell Ford, which was then inherited by his nephew after his death.


Career

Greenwell held the perpetual curacy of Ovingham with Mickley from 1847 to 1850. He then briefly served
Robert Isaac Wilberforce Robert Isaac Wilberforce (19 December 18023 February 1857) was an English clergyman and writer. Early life and education He was second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement. He was educated at Oriel College, ...
as curate at
Burton Agnes Burton Agnes (named after Agnes de Percy) is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A614 road midway between Driffield and Bridlington. Local landmarks include an Elizabethan manor house ...
, Yorkshire, before becoming assistant to William George Henderson, principal of Hatfield Hall, Durham. In 1852 he was appointed principal of Neville Hall, a hostel for students at Newcastle College of Medicine, with whom he worked among the town's
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
victims in 1853. Greenwell was appointed
canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...
at
Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...
from 1854 to his death, and became known as Canon Greenwell. He was also chaplain and censor at
Bishop Cosin's Hall Bishop Cosin's Hall was a college of the University of Durham, opened in 1851 as the university's third college and named after 17th century Bishop of Durham John Cosin. It closed in 1864 due to a fall in student recruitment at the universit ...
from 1855-1863. From 1863 to 1908 Greenwell was librarian of Durham Cathedral, where he continued the work of cataloguing the holdings begun by
Joseph Stevenson Joseph Stevenson (27 November 1806 – 8 February 1895) was an English Catholic priest, archivist and editor of historical texts. Early life Joseph Stevenson was born on 27 November 1806 in Berwick-on-Tweed, the eldest son of Robert Stevenson, s ...
. Greenwell was president of the Architectural and Archaeological Society of Durham from 1865 to his death, and vice-president of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle from 1890 until his death. In 1868 he was elected to the
Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
. He was appointed a
Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the s ...
in 1870, later chairing the Durham ward petty sessions, and was elected an alderman in 1904. He was awarded the
Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society The Medal of the Royal Numismatic Society was first awarded in 1883. It is awarded by the Royal Numismatic Society and is one of the highest markers of recognition given to numismatists. The President and Council award the Medal annually to an "in ...
in 1898. He died, unmarried, at North Bailey, Durham, on 27 January 1918, and was buried at Lanchester.


Personal

Known in Durham as 'The Canon', he had a reputation for being bluff and plain-spoken. Greenwell was a
Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...
in politics, and in religion a Tractarian who in later life retreated to more conservative high-churchmanship. His fishing and hunting skills developed in early childhood on the River Browney and he remained a keen angler to his ninety-eighth year. As an outdoorsman keen on angling and shooting, his sporting instincts made him naturally sympathetic to poachers. When a poacher was brought for trial in Durham both the police and the defendant, with differing motives, would inquire whether Greenwell would be on the bench. He is known as originator of "Greenwell's Glory", used in
fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight fishing lure, lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is Casting (fishing), cast using a fly rod, Fishing reel#Fly reel, reel, and specialized Fly line, weighted line. T ...
.


Works

* With a translation, an appendix of original documents, and a glossary. * Together with description of figures of skulls, general remarks on prehistoric crania, and an appendix by George Rolleston. * * *


See also

*
List of archaeologists This is a list of archaeologists – people who study or practise archaeology, the study of the human past through material remains. A * Kamyar Abdi (born 1969) Iranian; Iran, Neolithic to the Bronze Age * Aziz Ab'Saber (1924–2012) Brazilian; ...
*
British Iron Age The British Iron Age is a conventional name used in the archaeology of Great Britain, referring to the prehistoric and protohistoric phases of the Iron Age culture of the main island and the smaller islands, typically excluding prehistoric I ...
*
British Neolithic The Neolithic British Isles refers to the period of British, Irish and Manx history that spanned 4000 to 2,500 BCE. The final part of the Stone Age in the British Isles, it was a part of the greater Neolithic, or "New Stone Age", across ...
*
Grimes Graves Grime's Graves is a large Neolithic flint mining complex in Norfolk, England. It lies north east from Brandon, Suffolk in the East of England. It was worked between  2600 and  2300 BC, although production may have continued well into ...
*
Arras culture The Arras culture is an archaeological culture of the Middle Iron Age in East Yorkshire, England. It takes its name from the cemetery site of Arras, at Arras Farm, near Market Weighton, which was discovered in the 19th century. The site spans th ...
*
Danes Graves Danes Graves is an archaeological site in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It forms part of the Arras Culture of inhumation and chariot burial prevalent in the region during the British Iron Age. It is a prehistoric cemetery site situated in Dan ...
* East Ayton Hoard *
Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...


References

*Barry M. Marsden ''The Early Barrow Diggers'' Tempus 1999 (reissue of the ed. Shire Publications, 1974); pp. 33, 45, 49, 56-57, 90-91, 98-106, 109, 113, 115


External links

*
The Greenwell Project Homepage
(Durham University) {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwell, William 1820 births 1918 deaths People educated at Durham School Alumni of University College, Durham English archaeologists English antiquarians Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Academics of Durham University Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society