Wentworth Webster (16 June 1828 – 2 April 1907) was an Anglican clergyman, scholar, and collector of folk tales of the
Basque Country.
Biography
After studying in a private school in
Brighton
Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
, he entered
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Flemin ...
at the age of 21 and graduated in 1852. In 1854, he started as a deacon in the parish of
Cloford,
Somerset
Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
. Though his fragile health delayed his ordination, he became a priest in 1861. He was then allowed to exercise his ministry to the English residents in France.
He had previously traveled to
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, the
Azores
The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
,
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, and
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. From 1862 to 1863, he traveled to
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
before settling in southwest France. He was a tutor in the commune of
Bagneres-de-Bigorre where he met his future wife. Eventually, he served as the first chaplain of the new
anglican
Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
church established in
from 1869–1882. During those years, he had four girls and a boy who all spoke fluent
Basque
Basque may refer to:
* Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France
* Basque language, their language
Places
* Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France
* Basque Country (autonomous co ...
. During his stay, he collected traditional Basque tales from the local people. With the help of Basque scholar
Julien Vinson, he published these stories in the first edition of his ''Basque Legends'' in 1877.
Webster regularly published books including a book on
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
entitled ''Spain''. In 1882, he resigned from his position at the parish of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and settled in
Sare in the heart of Labourd. He continued to write religious and erudite articles on the Basque Country for both
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
magazines and regional ones. He often traveled to the neighboring countries where he met many of his friends, including
Antoine d'Abbadie
Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie d'Arrast (3 January 1810 – 19 March 1897) was a French-Basques, Basque explorer, geographer, ethnologist, linguist and astronomer of Irish birth, renowned for his expeditions in EthiopiaAlthough referred to as Ethiop ...
. He also received many visitors including
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party.
In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
, the British
Prime Minister
A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
at the time. In 1901, he wrote ''Les Loisirs d'un étranger en Pays basque''.
In March 1907, King
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910.
The second child ...
went to Sare to attend a game of
Basque pelota
Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronto ...
played in his honor. However, Webster, too weakened by illness, was not able to greet the king. Wentworth Webster died on 2 April 1907 while drafting an article on the Basque Country for the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''.
Works
*''Basque Legends'', London, Griffith and Farran, 1877.
*''Spain'', Foreign Countries and British Colonies collection, Simpson Low, London, 1882.
*''Grammaire cantabrique basque par Pierre d'Urte (1712)'', published by Wentworth Webster, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, 1900.
*''Les Loisirs d'un étranger au Pays basque'', Châlons-sur-Saöne, Imprimerie française et orientale E. Bertrand, 1901.
Sources
*Philippe Veyrin, Wentworth Webster, Bulletin du Musée Basque n°10, 1929/1.2, pages 1 à 15
*Philippe Veyrin, L'œuvre basque de Wentworth Webster, esquisse d'une bibliographie, Bulletin du Musée Basque n°10, 1929/1.2, pages 16 à 21. https://www.bilketa.eus/ark:/27020/bi00013/1929/10/v0032.simple.selectedTab=record
rchive*"Wentworth Webster (1828-1907)", by Philippe Veyrin, in Wentworth Webster, ''Légendes Basques'', Anglet, Éditions Aubéron, 2005
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Webster, Wentworth
Linguists of Basque
British folklorists
1828 births
1907 deaths
People from Uxbridge