Sir Frank Ezra Adcock, (15 April 1886 – 22 February 1968) was a British classical historian who was Professor of Ancient History at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

between 1925 and 1951. In addition to his academic work, he also served as a cryptographer in both

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Early life and education

Adcock was born in

Desford Desford is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, west of the centre of Leicester and around 7 miles north east of Hinckley. Situated on a hill approximately 400 feet above sea level, the parish includes the hamlets ...

, Leicester, Leicestershire, on 15 April 1886. He was the son of Thomas Draper Adcock, the head of Desford Industrial School, and Mary Esther Adcock (née Coltman). He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School, a

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

in Leicester. He went on to study classics at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the cit ...

Career

Academic career

In 1911, Adcock was elected as a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

and lecturer of

. He held the chair of Ancient History at the University Cambridge from 1925 to 1951 when he retired. With

J. B. Bury John Bagnell Bury (; 16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an Anglo-Irish historian, classical scholar, Medieval Roman historian and philologist. He objected to the label "Byzantinist" explicitly in the preface to the 1889 edition of his ''Lat ...

and S. A. Cook he edited ''

The Cambridge Ancient History ''The Cambridge Ancient History'' is a multi-volume work of ancient history from Prehistory to Late Antiquity, published by Cambridge University Press. The first series, consisting of 12 volumes, was planned in 1919 by Irish historian J. B. Bur ...

'', which was published from 1923 to 1939, and also wrote ten chapters of it. Adcock was president of the

Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies (The Roman Society) was founded in 1910 as the sister society to the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies. The Society is the leading organisation in the United Kingdom for those interest ...

from 1929 to 1931. He was president of the

Classical Association The Classical Association is a British learned society in the field of classics, aimed at developing classical study and promoting its importance in education. Constitution The association was founded on 19 December 1903, and its objects are def ...

from 1947 to 1948.

Military service

Between 1915 and 1919, during

, Adcock worked for the Intelligence Division,

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. He also served as a

lieutenant-commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding rank i ...

in the

Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original R ...

from 1917 to 1919. His main role was as an interpreter of codes and ciphers, and as such he was based in

Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...

of the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

. He worked at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years followin ...

from 1939 to 1943.

Honours

In the 1918

King's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are prese ...

, Adcock was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) 'for services in connection with the War'. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) in 1936. In the 1954

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, it was announced that he would be made a

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are th ...

. In 1953 he was appointed as Captain of the Royal North West Norfolk Golf Club in

Brancaster Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or ...

. On 16 February 1954, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother at Buckingham Palace.

Later life

On 22 February 1968, Adcock died at King's College, Cambridge.

References

1886 births 1968 deaths British cryptographers Royal Navy officers of World War I British people of World War II English classical scholars Bletchley Park people Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys People from Hinckley and Bosworth (district) Fellows of the British Academy Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Members of the University of Cambridge faculty of classics Scholars of ancient Greek history Scholars of Roman history 20th-century English historians Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War I Professors of Ancient History (Cambridge) Presidents of The Roman Society Presidents of the Classical Association {{England-historian-stub