Herbert "Herbie" Coleridge (7 October 1830 – 23 April 1861) was an English

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, technically the first editor of what ultimately became the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

''. He was a grandson of the poet

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordsworth ...

Biography

He was the son of Sara and Henry Nelson Coleridge. He earned a

double first The British undergraduate degree classification system is a Grading in education, grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and Master's degree#Integrated Masters Degree, integrated master's degrees in the United Kingd ...

Classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

and

Mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

Balliol College Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and ar ...

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. After graduation, he became a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, but, living off a small

annuity In investment, an annuity is a series of payments made at equal intervals based on a contract with a lump sum of money. Insurance companies are common annuity providers and are used by clients for things like retirement or death benefits. Examples ...

, devoted most of his time and energy to linguistic studies. At age 27, as a member of the Philological Society, he formed a committee with

Richard Chenevix Trench Richard Chenevix Trench (9 September 1807 – 28 March 1886) was an Anglican archbishop and poet. Life He was born in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Richard Trench (1774–1860), barrister-at-law, and the Dublin writer Melesina Chenevix (1768� ...

and Frederick Furnivall to identify and research words unlisted and undefined in English dictionaries of the period. The efforts of this committee eventually led to the development of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. A dedicated editor, he died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

at age 30 after completing some fundamental work for the project. He died on 23 April 1861 at Chester Place, Regents Park and is buried, with his parents and grandparents, in the crypt of St Michael's, Highgate.The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol III - Cansick 1875. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiuc.3465163_001&seq=75&q1=coleridge The coffins were moved in 1961 from the Highgate School Chapel.

Works

* ''A Glossarial Index to the Printed English Literature of the Thirteenth Century''. London: Trubner & Co., 1859. * ''A Dictionary of the First, or Oldest Words in the English Language: from the Semi Saxon Period of A.D. 1250 to 1300. Consisting of An Alphabetical Inventory of Every Word Found in the Printed English Literature of the 13TH Century''. London: John Camden Hotten, 1863.

References

Simon Winchester Simon Winchester (born 28 September 1944) is a British-American author and journalist. In his career at ''The Guardian'' newspaper, Winchester covered numerous significant events, including Bloody Sunday (1972), Bloody Sunday and the Watergate S ...

(2003). '' The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. . pp. 50–58.

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coleridge, Herbert 1830 births 1861 deaths Herbert 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis Place of death missing Tuberculosis deaths in the United Kingdom British philologists 19th-century philologists Chief editors of the Oxford English Dictionary 19th-century British lexicographers Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford