John Wordsworth (1 July 1805 – 31 December 1839) was an English classical scholar.

Life

He was born at

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

on 1 July 1805, the son of

Christopher Wordsworth Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Church of England. Life Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth (divine), Christopher Wordsworth, Master ...

and nephew of

William Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poetry, Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism, Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Balla ...

. He was educated at a school at

Woodford, Essex Woodford is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located north-east of Charing Cross. Woodford historically formed an ancient parish in the county of Essex. It contained a string of agrarian villages and ...

, kept by Dr. Holt Okes (1816−20), and at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

(1820−4). In October 1824 he entered

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

. His university career was distinguished. In 1825 he obtained the Bell scholarship, in 1826 a scholarship at his own college, and was second for the

Porson prize The Porson Prize is an undergraduate award for Greek verse composition at the University of Cambridge. It was founded in honor of classical scholar Richard Porson and was first awarded in 1817. Winners are known as "Porson prizemen". Winners of ...

; in 1827 he obtained it. In 1828 he proceeded to the B.A. degree, but was disqualified for classical honours through distaste for mathematics. In 1830 he was elected fellow of his college. He resided at Cambridge till 1833, occupying himself with literary pursuits. During this period he contributed to the first number of the ‘Philological Museum’ a review of James Scholefield's ''Æschylus''. In 1833 he visited France, Switzerland, and Italy. At Florence he collated the Medicean manuscript of Æschylus, with a view to a new edition. Some use was made of his material by

John Conington John Conington (10 August 1825 – 23 October 1869) was an English classical scholar. In 1866 he published his best-known work, the translation of the ''Aeneid'' of Virgil into the octosyllabic metre of Walter Scott. He was Corpus Christi Pro ...

in his edition of the ''

Choephoroi The ''Oresteia'' () is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of ...

''. In 1834 he was appointed a classical lecturer in Trinity College, and undertook to edit

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

's ''Correspondence'' (afterwards completed by his brother

, bishop of Lincoln). He also made large collections for a classical dictionary. In 1837 he was ordained deacon, and priest shortly afterwards. At about the same time his health began to fail; he resigned his lectureship, and looked for easier work. From this step he was dissuaded, and he remained at Cambridge till his death on 31 December 1839. He was buried in the antechapel of the college, where a monument to him was placed by subscription. The bust was executed by

Henry Weekes Henry Weekes (14 January 1807 – 28 May 1877) was an English sculptor, best known for his portraiture. He was among the most successful British sculptors of the mid- Victorian period. Personal life Weekes was born at Canterbury, Kent, to Capo ...

, under

Francis Leggatt Chantrey Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

's supervision. Most of his collections came into the possession of his nephew

John Wordsworth John Wordsworth (21 September 1843 – 16 August 1911) was an English Anglican bishop and classical scholar. He was Oriel Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1883 to 1885, and Bishop of Salisbury ...

, the bishop of Salisbury.

References

;Attribution * 1805 births 1838 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English classical scholars

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

19th-century English Anglican priests Classical scholars of the University of Cambridge English male writers {{UK-academic-bio-stub