Edwin Abbott (12 May 1808 – 27 May 1882) was an English educator. Abbott was born in London in 1808, the son of Edward Abbott, an oilman and Italian warehouseman descended from George Abbot, archbishop of Canterbury. In 1827 he was made headmaster of the Philological School of General Instruction,

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, the school he had himself attended. As a headmaster he was known as firm but humane.James M. Borg
‘Abbott, Edwin (1808–1882)’
''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, May 2007, accessed 30 Oct 2008 He married his first cousin Jane Abbott (1806–1882) in 1831. The couple had eight children, including

Edwin Abbott Abbott Edwin Abbott Abbott (20 December 1838 – 12 October 1926) was an English schoolmaster, theologian, and Anglican priest, best known as the author of the novella ''Flatland'' (1884). Biography Edwin Abbott Abbott was the eldest son of ...

, author of ''

Flatland ''Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions'' is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square", the book used the fictional two-dime ...

''; a daughter, Elizabeth, married

John Humffreys Parry John Humffreys Parry (24 January 1816 – 10 January 1880) was a British barrister, who became serjeant-at-law. Early life The son of John Humffreys Parry the antiquarian (1786–1825), he was born in London on 24 January 1816. He received a comm ...

. Abbott's social concern led him to keep up contact with the

Christian Socialists Christian socialism is a religious and political philosophy that blends Christianity and socialism, endorsing left-wing politics and socialist economics on the basis of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Many Christian socialists believe capi ...

. He translated the third volume of J. H. Merle D'Aubigné's history of the reformation, wrote textbooks on

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 of the ...

English grammar English grammar is the set of structural rules of the English language. This includes the structure of words, phrases, clauses, Sentence (linguistics), sentences, and whole texts. This article describes a generalized, present-day Standard English ...

and

arithmetic Arithmetic () is an elementary part of mathematics that consists of the study of the properties of the traditional operations on numbers— addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, exponentiation, and extraction of roots. In the 19th ...

, and published a concordance to

Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...

. Abbott retired as headmaster in 1872, and died at

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

in 1882. The school was renamed

St Marylebone Grammar School St Marylebone Grammar School (SMGS) was a grammar school located in the London borough of the City of Westminster, from 1792 to 1981. History Philological School Founded as the Philological Society by Thomas Collingwood, under the patronage of ...

in 1901, and one of the four senior houses was named after Abbott.

Works

*(tr.) ''History of the Great Reformation'', by J. H. Merle D'Aubigné, vol. 3, 1841 *''Handbook of Arithmetic and First Steps in Algebra'' *''A Handbook of English Grammar'', 1845 *''A Second Latin Book'', 1858 *''A concordance to the works of Alexander Pope'', 1875

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbott, Edwin 1808 births 1882 deaths Heads of schools in London French–English translators 19th-century translators 19th-century English educators