Augustus Henry Keane (1833–1912) was an Irish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

journalist and linguist, known for his ethnological writings.

Early life

He was born in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

.George Grant MacCurdy, James Mooney and A. B. Legía - Antonio Flores, ''Anthropologic Miscellanea'' p. 198, in American Anthropologist, New Series, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1912), pp. 192-209. Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association He was educated in Cork,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

, and graduated at the Roman Catholic College, Dublin.

In Glasgow

Keane was editor of the ''

Glasgow Free Press Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

'' from 1862. He and his deputy Peter McCorry turned the first Scottish Catholic newspaper into a campaigning sheet, setting the Irish priests against the Scottish priests, and in particular the vicars-apostolic. The paper supported the nationalist Patrick Lavelle, who used its pages to attack Paul Cullen. John Murdoch, the Vicar Apostolic of the Western District was another particular target, the background being the increasing number of Irish Catholic priests in Scotland, and an increasing Irish immigrant population. Keane and McCorry found themselves in court proceedings. The policy of the ''Glasgow Free Press'' under Keane and then McCorry had only short-term direct effects, and the paper was shut down after the intervention by Cardinal Manning towards the end of the 1860s; but the divisions it revealed have been taken as important in the move towards restoring the Scottish Catholic hierarchy, which occurred in 1878. Keane may have drifted from the Catholic faith in later life.

Linguist, geographer, ethnologist

He studied in Germany and taught at

Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...

; and became a linguist. He taught languages including Hindustani at the Hartley Institute, Southampton; a chair of Hindustani was created for him at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

, in 1883, but he left it in 1885. He then spent a period lecturing on ethnology at 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 highly selective ad ...

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen C ...

. Keane belonged to the "philological" group of British linguists, with Richard Garnett,

Thomas Hewitt Key Thomas Hewitt Key, FRS (20 March 179929 November 1875) was an English classical scholar. Life He was born in London and educated at St John's and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge, and graduated 19th wrangler in 1821. From 1825 to 1827 he was the ...

Isaac Taylor Isaac Taylor (17 August 1787 – 28 June 1865) was an English philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Isaac Taylor of Ongar. He was born at Lavenham, Suffolk, on 17 August 1787, and m ...

John Horne Tooke John Horne Tooke (25 June 1736 – 18 March 1812), known as John Horne until 1782 when he added the surname of his friend William Tooke to his own, was an English clergyman, politician, and philologist. Associated with radical proponents of parl ...

and

Hensleigh Wedgwood Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 – 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of '' A Dictionary of English Etymology''. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin, whom his sister Emma married in 1839. Early life We ...

. He began attending meetings of the a

Royal Anthropological Institute The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biol ...

in 1879, read papers there, and became a Fellow, serving as vice-president. He was granted a

Civil List pension Pensions in the United Kingdom, whereby United Kingdom tax payers have some of their wages deducted to save for retirement, can be categorised into three major divisions - state, occupational and personal pensions. The state pension is based on ...

in 1897. Keane was a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

Views

Keane's racial theories were published first in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

'' in 1879–81. He affirmed the

specific unity of human beings Monogenism or sometimes monogenesis is the theory of human origins which posits a common descent for all human races. The negation of monogenism is polygenism. This issue was hotly debated in the Western world in the nineteenth century, as the ...

in his 1896 text ''Ethnology'', even if his views had some other implications. He produced racial typologies, in his expository writings; they were more systematic than those of John George Wood and Robert Brown, and were intended for rote learning.Bernard V. Lightman, ''Victorian Science in Context'' (1997), pp. 224–8
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Keane Tree

Keane was out of step with the anthropology of the time, preferring linguistic data to that of

physical anthropology Biological anthropology, also known as physical anthropology, is a scientific discipline concerned with the biological and behavioral aspects of human beings, their extinct hominin ancestors, and related non-human primates, particularly from an e ...

and came to occupy a marginal position in the emerging scientific discipline.Paul B. Rich, ''Hope and Despair: English-speaking intellectuals and South African politics, 1896-1976'' (1993), p. 20
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On the other hand, his efforts at popularising anthropology were praised by Sir Harry Johnston. Keane's views were invoked by F. W. Bell in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

from 1908, with those of

Robert Bennett Bean Robert Bennett Bean (1874–1944) was an associate professor of anatomy and ethnologist adept to craniometry and the concept of "race", whose scientific work was discredited by his mentor but who nonetheless became a professor at the University of ...

, and played a part in the move of the Transvaal Native Affairs Society towards a

segregationist Racial segregation is the systematic separation of people into racial or other ethnic groups in daily life. Racial segregation can amount to the international crime of apartheid and a crime against humanity under the Statute of the Interna ...

position. He was known for his sympathies displayed in ''The Boer States'' (1900), in which he attributed the long-term issue behind the

Boer Wars The military history of South Africa chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the dawn of history until the present time. It covers civil wars and wars of aggression and of self-defence both within South Africa and against it. It in ...

to the attitude of

Lord Glenelg Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS (26 October 1778 – 23 April 1866) was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator who served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Background and education Grant was born in Kidderpore, ...

in the 1830s. The stance taken by Keane, who has been described as a "virulent racist", was conveyed in person when he addressed the Transvaal Native Affairs Society in September 1909. He cited Robert Wilson Shufeldt of Virginia, author of ''The Negro a Menace to American Civilization'' (1907), aiding the Bell faction against the moderates around Howard Pim.

Works

*''Handbook of the History of the English Language'' (1875) *''Ethnology of the Egyptian Sudan'' (1884) *''Codex Fejrvry-Mayer: An Old Mexican Picture Manuscript in the Liverpool Free Public Museums (12014/M)'' with

Joseph Florimond Loubat Joseph Florimond, Duke of Loubat (January 21, 1831 – March 1, 1927) was a French and American bibliophile, antiquarian, sportsman, and philanthropist. Biography Loubat was born in New York City to Alphonse Loubat and Susan Gaillard Loub ...

*''The Early Chartered Companies (A.D. 1296-1858)'' (1896, 2002 reprint), with George Cawston *''Man, Past and Present'' (1899); this work has been called "overtly racist", and a later edition revised by

Alison Hingston Quiggin Alison Hingston Quiggin (1874—1971) was a British anthropologist at the University of Cambridge and the author of the much reprinted ''A Survey of Primitive Money: The Beginnings of Currency'' (London, 1949). Education and career Hingston studi ...

and

A. C. Haddon Alfred Cort Haddon, Sc.D., FRS, FRGS FRAI (24 May 1855 – 20 April 1940, Cambridge) was an influential British anthropologist and ethnologist. Initially a biologist, who achieved his most notable fieldwork, with W.H.R. Rivers, C.G. Seligma ...

removed some of the extreme statements. *''Ethnology. In Two Parts: I. Fundamental Ethnical Problems. II. The Primary Ethnical Groups'' (1896)
''Asia: Northern and Eastern Asia'', vol. 1; ''Asia: Southern and Western Asia'', vol. 2
(1896) *''The Boer States: land and people'' (1900) *''The Gold of Ophir - Whence Brought and by Whom?'' (1901) *''The World's Peoples: A popular account of their bodily and mental characters'' ;Translations *''Ancient Peruvian art: contributions to the archaeology of the empire of the Incas'', translator, original by Arthur Baessler *''Philosophy Historical and Critical'' (1879), translator, original by André Lefèvre *''The Science of Language. Linguistics, Philology, Etymology'', translator, original by Abel Hovelacque *''The Antichrist Legend; a chapter in Christian and Jewish folklore'', translator, original by

Wilhelm Bousset Wilhelm Bousset (3 September 1865, Lübeck – 8 March 1920, Gießen) was a German theologian and New Testament scholar. He was of Huguenot ancestry and a native of Lübeck. His most influential work was ''Kyrios Christos'', an attempt to explain ...

*''The Early Teutonic, Italian and French Masters'' (reprinted 2004), translator from the work of Robert Dohme *''The Chittagong Hill Tribes: results of a journey made in the year 1882'' (1885), translator, original by

Emil Riebeck Emil Riebeck (11 June 1853 – 22 June 1885) was a German explorer, mineralogist, ethnologist, and naturalist. He was born in Preusslitz to Carl Adolf Riebeck, an industrial magnate. He traveled to North Africa and Arabia several times, and in ...

*''Travels in Africa during the years 1882-1886'', translator, original by

Wilhelm Junker Wilhelm Junker ( rus, Василий Васильевич Юнкер; 6 April 184013 February 1892) was a Russian explorer of Africa. Dr. Junker was of German descent. Born in Moscow, he studied medicine at Dorpat (now called University of T ...

*''The Childhood of Man'', translator, original by

Leo Frobenius Leo Viktor Frobenius (29 June 1873 – 9 August 1938) was a German self-taught ethnologist and archaeologist and a major figure in German ethnography. Life He was born in Berlin as the son of a Prussian officer and died in Biganzolo, Lago ...

*''Diego Velazquez and His Times'', translator, original by

Carl Justi Carl Justi (2 August 1832, in Marburg – 9 December 1912, in Bonn) was a German art historian, who practised a biographical approach to art history. Professor of art history at the University of Bonn, he wrote three major critical biographies ...

. He contributed ethnological appendices to the volumes of

Edward Stanford Edward Stanford (27 May 1827 3 November 1904) was the founder of Stanfords, now a pair of map and book shops based in London and Bristol, UK. Biography Born in 1827, and educated at the City of London School, Edward Stanford developed his i ...

's ''Compendium of Geography and Travel'', which was based on

Friedrich von Hellwald Friedrich von Hellwald (29 March 1842, in Padua, Italy – 1 November 1892, in Cannstatt, Germany) was an Austrian writer on geography and the history of civilization. Biography He was born at Padua. He entered the Austrian Army in 1858, and ...

's ''Die Erde und ihre Völker''. An English edition of ''La Nouvelle Géographic universelle, la terre et les hommes'', 19 vols. (1875—94) of Elisée Reclus appeared as ''The Earth and Its Inhabitants'' the first volumes were edited by Ernest George Ravenstein, the rest by Keane. With Sir Stanley Reed he edited ''Bradshaw's Through Routes to the Chief Cities of the World'' (1907). A prolific author, Keane wrote encyclopedia articles, in particular for the ''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...

''. His articles in the 9th edition (1875-89) included "Negro", which included details of the racial theory of Filippo Manetta., as well as articles on "Malay Peninsula", "Mexico (Republic of Mexico)", "Mexico (City of Mexico)", "Sudan" and "Yoruba.Important Contributors to the Britannica, 9th and 10th Editions
1902encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 1 April 2022. He also wrote magazine articles and textbooks; he contributed 800 entries to '' Cassell's Storehouse of General Information''. In 1905 he was involved in the part publishing venture ''The Living Races of Man'', illustrated with 800 photographs.

References

External links

* *
Online Books page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keane, Augustus Henry 1833 births 1912 deaths Irish journalists Linguists from Ireland Academics of University College London