Herbert Augustus Strong (24 November 1841 – 13 January 1918) was an Australian scholar, professor of

comparative philology Comparative linguistics is a branch of historical linguistics that is concerned with comparing languages to establish their historical relatedness. Genetic relatedness implies a common origin or proto-language and comparative linguistics aim ...

and logic at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. G. R. Manton,
Strong, Herbert Augustus (1841 – 1918)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Volume 6, MUP, 1976, pp. 209–210. Retrieved 2010-04-01

Early life

Strong was born at Clyst St Mary near

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

, England the third son of Rev. Edmond Strong and his wife Sarah, ''née'' Forbes-Coulson. Strong was educated at

Winchester School Winchester College is an English public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 as ...

and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...

, graduating B.A. in 1863 having taken a first-class in classical moderations the year before. From 1866 to 1871 Strong was assistant to professor of humanity, George Ramsay, at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, and was the first warden of University Hall, University of Glasgow.

Career in Australia

In 1872, Strong was appointed professor of classical and comparative philology and logic at the

, replacing

Martin Howy Irving Martin Howy Irving (21 February 1831 – 23 January 1912) was an English rower and educationist who spent nearly all his career in Australia. Background and early career Irving was born in St Pancras, London, the son of Edward Irving, a major fi ...

. Strong's opportunities were not great as the university was still young, there being then four other professors and fewer than 150 full-time students; ten years later the students still numbered under 300. Strong, however, identified himself with the life of the university, encouraged athletics and the formation of a university spirit. Strong also advocated the cultivation of French and German in addition to the classics.

Liverpool

In 1884 Strong became professor of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

at the newly founded University College in Liverpool and held the chair until his retirement in 1909. He wrote the words to the song 'Salvete Cives Nostri' composed by Albert Lister Peace, this song was performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Victoria Building in 1892 and was known as the University College song. While at Liverpool he was president of the

Liverpool Royal Institution The Liverpool Royal Institution was a learned society set up in 1814 for "the Promotion of Literature, Science and the Arts". William Corrie, William Rathbone IV, Thomas Stewart Traill and William Roscoe were among the founders. It was sometimes ...

and Liverpool guild of education, president of the French Society of Liverpool, and president of the University Athletic Club for 20 years. Strong was examiner of secondary schools for the Scottish education department for 20 years. In addition to minor educational works and editions of Latin poets Catullus and Juvenal, Strong wrote with

Kuno Meyer Kuno Meyer (20 December 1858 – 11 October 1919) was a German scholar, distinguished in the field of Celtic philology and literature. His pro-German stance at the start of World War I in the United States was a source of controversy. His brothe ...

an ''Outline of a History of the German Language'' (1886), and with W. S. Logeman and B. I. Wheeler an ''Introduction to the Study of the History of Language'' (1891). Strong died in England on 13 January 1918. He was given the honorary degree of LL.D. at Glasgow in 1890. Strong was married twice: to Helen Campbell Edmiston and Isobel, née White. Strong was survived by two sons, one of who was Sir Archibald Strong.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strong, Herbert Augustus 1841 births 1918 deaths Academic staff of the University of Melbourne People from Exeter People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford English philologists Academics of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Liverpool