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Thomas Hardy and Stephen’s Shaky Latin
Sympathise with Stephen Smith, the autodidactic stonemason’s son in Thomas Hardy’s early novel A Pair of Blue Eyes (1873), who in chapter 7 betrays his humble origins by his unconventional...
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The Dark Philology of Eugene Aram
Meet Eugene Aram (1704-59) the self-taught philologist from Ramsgill, Yorkshire, who despite his humble origins and scanty education became a philologist of the highest order. He compiled extensive...
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Robert Hill: The Learned Tailor
Meet Robert Hill (1699-1777), the itinerant tailor from Herefordshire, who in his teens and with only seven weeks’ of schooling under his belt taught himself to read Latin with the aid of an incomplete...
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George Martin: The Saint of Southwark
All rise for the ragged Rev. George Martin (1864-1946), alias ‘Saint George of Southwark’, who gave up his priestly salary (£700 p.a.) as a Cornish clergyman to work as a porter in Borough Market and...
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Plato Settles in Spennymoor
Welcome to the Durham coal town of Spennymoor, whose motto runs: spe nemo ruet (‘with hope no one will fail’). At its peak it boasted the largest ironworking mill in Europe; in the 1920s and 30s it was...
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Rennie’s Book Van: Slim Classical Pickings
Wave at the book van as it rolls slowly by. It’s driven by ‘the converted shepherd boy’, James Rennie, who sold cheap, ‘improving’ literature to the rural poor. Born in 1851 in a town near Melbourne,...
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William Carey: The Orientalist Cobbler
Meet William Carey (1761-1834), the cobbler who taught himself Latin and Greek before becoming a British Baptist Missionary, the first translator of the New Testament into Bengali and Professor of...
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Lewis Edwards: Welsh Methodist Classics
Sit up straight! and listen to Lewis Edwards (1809-1887), the Calvinistic Methodist preacher, who was instrumental in the shaping of Modern Wales through his educational writing and practice. He was...
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Tisa Schulenburg and the Pit University
Admire the heart and conviction of Tisa Schulenburg, who–after being born into Prussian nobility and raised among the upper echelons of Nazi Germany–emigrated to England in the 1930s and dedicated her...
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William Cameron: Hawking the Classics
Imagine the Scots patter of ‘Hawkie’ Cameron, the son of an impoverished mashman, who made his living from begging and peddling books. William Cameron (1784-1851), born in Plean, Stirlingshire and...
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Alexander Murray: The Shepherd Scholar
Meet Alexander Murray (1775-1813), the sickly son of an impoverished Galloway shepherd who would live to become Professor of Oriental Languages at the University of Edinburgh. After just a few months...
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George Smith: Deciphering the Flood
Admire George Smith (1840-1876), the working-class intellectual titan who made the first crucial steps in deciphering the mysterious Cypriot syllabic script. Brought up in a Chelsea slum tenement,...
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Alexander Christison: The Lammernmuir Latinist
Meet Alexander Christison (1760-1830), son of small hill-tenant farmer in the lower Lammermuir Hills who became Professor of Humanity at the University of Edinburgh. Born in Longformacus, Berwickshire,...
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