Robert Forby (1759–1825) 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 ...

Career

Forby, born in 1759 of poor parents at Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, was educated at the free school of

Lynn Regis King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, and at

Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, where he obtained a fellowship (B.A. 1781, M.A. 1784). Sir John Berney, bart., induced him to leave the university, and to become tutor of his sons, presenting him in 1787 to the small living of

Horningtoft Horningtoft is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Horningtoft is located north of Dereham and north-west of Norwich. History Horningtoft's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the cur ...

, Norfolk. Afterwards he fixed his residence at

Barton Bendish Barton Bendish is a civil parish and small village in the English county of Norfolk south of King's Lynn and northeast of London.Ordnance Survey (1999). ''OS Explorer Map 236 – King's Lynn, Downham Market & Swaffham''. . It has two medieval ...

, where he took pupils; and on their number increasing, he removed to Wereham. Two years subsequently, in 1789, by the death of his uncle, the Rev. Joseph Forby, he came into possession of the valuable rectory of

Fincham Fincham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Fincham is located south of King's Lynn and west of Norwich. History Fincham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for a homestead or settlem ...

, Norfolk. He removed thither in 1801, and continued to reside in his parish till his death, which occurred suddenly while he was taking a warm bath, on 20 Sept. 1825, aged 66. He was elected a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

in 1798, and was a distinguished scholar. At one time, though at what period is uncertain, he was resident at

Aspall, Suffolk Aspall is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 52, and estimated population of 60 in 2005. The village is about north of Ipswich, and south of Diss. ...

, as tutor to the children of Mr. Chevallier.

Works

He published some small pieces of ephemeral interest, and an important philological work entitled ''The Vocabulary of East Anglia ; an attempt to record the Vulgar Tongue of the twin sister counties, Norfolk and Suffolk, as it existed in the last twenty years of the Eighteenth Century, and still exists: with Proof of its Antiquity from Etymology and Authority'', 2 vols. London, 1830, 8vo. This was edited by the Rev. George Turner of

Kettleburgh Kettleburgh is a small village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk. The population of this Civil Parish at the 2011 Census was 231. It is near the small towns of Wickham Market and Framlingham in the valley ...

. Prefixed to vol. i. is the author's portrait, engraved from a painting by M. Sharp. Vol. iii., being a supplementary volume by the Rev. William Tylney Spurdens, was published at London in 1858. Later, Spurdens would claim that he supplied most of the information used by Forby.Ancestry.com: the early Spurdens family
/ref> Forby also assisted Mr. Mannings in his "Pursuits of Agriculture", and in 1824 wrote the prospectus of a continuation of, as supplement to, the new edition of

Blomefield Rev. Francis Blomefield (23 July 170516 January 1752), FSA, Rector of Fersfield in Norfolk, was an English antiquarian who wrote a county history of Norfolk: ''An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk''. It includes d ...

's ''Norfolk''.

References

External links

Amazon.com: Reprintings of works by Robert Forby

Biography of Robert Forby on the jjhc.info family history website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Forby, Robert 1759 births 1825 deaths English philologists People from Stoke Ferry