Thomas Hewitt Key, FRS (20 March 179929 November 1875) was an English classical scholar.

Life

Grave of Thomas Hewitt Key in Highgate Cemetery

He was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and educated at St John's and

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the ...

Colleges, Cambridge, and graduated 19th wrangler in 1821. From 1825 to 1827 he was the founding professor of Pure mathematics in the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with College admission ...

; Key owned at least one slave during his time there. After his return to England was appointed in 1828 professor of

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

in the newly founded

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

. In 1832 he became joint headmaster of the school founded in connection with that institution (the University College School); in 1842 he resigned the professorship of Latin, and took up that of comparative grammar, together with the undivided headmastership of the school. These two posts he held until his death. A few years before his death, he also took the position of secretary to the College of Preceptors in London (later known as the College of Teachers). Key is best known for his introduction of the crude-form (the uninflected form or stem of words) system, in general use among

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

grammarians, into the teaching of the classical languages. This system was embodied in his ''Latin Grammar'' (1846). In ''Language, its Origin and Development'' (1874), he upheld the onomatopoeic theory. Key was prejudiced against the German Sanskritists, and the etymological portion of his ''Latin Dictionary'', published in 1888, was severely criticized on this account. He was a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

and president of the Philological Society, to the ''Transactions'' of which he contributed largely. Key was the great-grandfather of British authors Rumer Godden and

Jon Godden Winsome Ruth Key Godden (August 1906 1984) was an English novelist who wrote under the name Jon Godden. She was born in Assam, India. She was the elder sister of the better-known novelist Rumer Godden. Early life The eldest of four daugh ...

. He was buried on the western side of Highgate Cemetery.

Bibliography

* ''Proceedings of the Royal Society'', vol. xxiv. (1876) * Robinson Ellis in the ''Academy'' (Dec. 4, 1875) * J. P. Hicks, ''T. Hewitt Key'' (1893), where a full list of his works and contributions is given. *

Notes

References

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Thomas Hewitt 1799 births 1875 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery Writers from London English classical scholars University of Virginia faculty Fellows of the Royal Society Classical scholars of the University of London British slave owners Headmasters of University College School Committee members of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge