Edward Balston (26 November 1817 – 29 November 1891) was an English schoolmaster,

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

cleric, Head Master of

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

from 1862 to 1868 and later Rector of Hitcham,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Bakewell, Derbyshire, and

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

Life

Balston was the son of William Balston, a paper-maker, by his marriage to Catherine, daughter of Thomas Vallance, of

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...

, wholesale stationer. He was born at

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, on 26 November 1817 and baptised on 23 December. He was educated at Eton, then admitted to King's College, Cambridge, on 21 November 1836, matriculating in the Lent term of 1837. He was the Browne medallist every year from 1836 to 1839 and won the Davies Scholarship in 1839, unusually being elected a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of his college in 1839 before graduating

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1841 and proceeding

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) 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. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1844. In 1841 he 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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...

of the

and in 1842 a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. Although Balston held his Fellowship at King's until 1850, in 1840 he returned to Eton as an assistant master, where in 1860 he became a Fellow and on 25 February 1862 Head Master. In 1865 his university honoured him with the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. Questioned by the Clarendon Commission on 9 July 1862, Balston came under attack for his view that in the classroom little time could be spared for subjects other than classical studies. Lord Clarendon said to him - Balston replied that there were occasional lectures at Eton on scientific subjects and that some time could be spared for the

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

, conceding that it might be possible to make that a compulsory subject in some forms of the school, but that he would prefer to teach English rather than French. It remained his view that in most lower forms of the school the boys' time should be devoted entirely to classical studies. In 1868 Balston left Eton (while remaining a Fellow) to take on a parish

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

as rector of Hitcham,

, and in 1869 moved on again to become vicar of Bakewell, Derbyshire, where in 1872 he was appointed a rural dean and in 1873 as Archdeacon of Derby, remaining as vicar and archdeacon until his death in 1891. In 1850 Balston married Harriet Anne, a daughter of Thomas Carter, Fellow of Eton College.''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term ''m ...

'', vol. 189 (1850)
p. 427
"Edward Balston, M.A. late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge, and Assistant Master of Eton College, to Harriet-Anne, fourth dau. of the Rev. Thomas Carter, Fellow of Eton College, and Vicar of Burnham." He died at Bakewell on 29 November 1891 and was buried at Eton.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balston, Edward 1817 births 1891 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Schoolteachers from Kent Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Head Masters of Eton College People educated at Eton College People from Maidstone

Life

Further reading

Notes