George Finlay (21 December 1799 – 26 January 1875) was a Scottish historian.
Biography
Finlay was born in
Faversham
Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, where his Scottish father, Captain John Finlay FRS, an officer in the
Royal Engineers
The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...
, was inspector of government
powder mill
A powder mill was a mill where gunpowder is made from sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal.
Milling steps
Crude grinding and mixing operations such as the Frankford Powder-Mill of Philadelphia were a cottage industry until the industrial revolution ...
s. Finlay's father died in 1802, and his Scottish mother and uncle (
Kirkman Finlay
Kirkman Finlay (April 1773 – 4 March 1842) was one of the leading merchants in Glasgow, Scotland. He was Lord Provost of Glasgow and Member of Parliament.
Life
Kirkman Finlay was born in the Gallowgate, the second son of well known Glasgow me ...
) took hand of his education. His love of history was attributed to his mother.
Intended for the law, he was educated at the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
, the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
, and the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, but becoming an enthusiast in the cause of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
, in 1823 he joined
Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
in the
war of independence
This is a list of wars of independence (also called liberation wars). These wars may or may not have been successful in achieving a goal of independence.
List
See also
* Lists of active separatist movements
* List of civil wars
* List of o ...
. Thereafter he bought a property near
Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, where he settled and busied himself with schemes for the improvement of the country, which met with little success. Although he formed an unfavourable opinion of the Greek leaders, both civil and military, he did not lose his enthusiasm for their cause.
A severe attack of fever, combined with other circumstances, induced him to spend the winter of 1824–1825 and the spring of 1825 in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
,
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
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, demographi ...
. He then returned to Scotland, and, after spending a summer at
Castle Toward, Argyllshire, went to
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where he passed his examination in civil law at the university, with a view to being called to the
Scottish bar
The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers who have been admitted to practise as advocates before the courts of Scotland, especially the Court of Session and the High Court of Justiciary. The Faculty of Advocates is a const ...
.
However, his enthusiasm for Greece took him back there for good. He took part in the unsuccessful operations of
Lord Cochrane and
Sir Richard Church
Sir Richard Church (; 23 February 1784 – 20 March 1873)For the date of death see relevant Section of the article explaining the discrepancy of sources was a military officer in the British Army and commander of the Greek forces during the ...
for the attempted
relief of Athens in 1827. When independence had been secured in 1829 he bought a landed estate in
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean Se ...
, but all his efforts for the introduction of a better system of agriculture ended in failure, and he devoted himself to the literary work which occupied the rest of his life, and for many years, he acted as the special correspondent of the
London ''Times''.
Finlay was elected a member of the
American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...
in 1838,
American Antiquarian Society Members Directory
/ref> and in 1854 he received from the university of Edinburgh the honorary degree of LL.D
Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...
. He died in Athens.
His ''History of Greece
The history of Greece encompasses the history of the territory of the modern nation-state of Greece as well as that of the Greek people and the areas they inhabited and ruled historically. The scope of Greek habitation and rule has varied thro ...
'', produced in sections between 1843 and 1861, did not at first receive the recognition which its merits deserved, but it has since been given by scholars in all countries, and specially in Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, a place among works of permanent value, alike for its literary style and the depth and insight of its historical views. It was re-issued in 1877 as '''' (146 BC to 1864).
Confusion arising from a work of Thomas Moore
Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...
on the life of Byron which refers to his uncle by full name but Finlay only by surname, lead to some of his exploits being ascribed to a putative brother Kirkman Finlay
Kirkman Finlay (April 1773 – 4 March 1842) was one of the leading merchants in Glasgow, Scotland. He was Lord Provost of Glasgow and Member of Parliament.
Life
Kirkman Finlay was born in the Gallowgate, the second son of well known Glasgow me ...
.
Works
* ''History of the Byzantine Empire from 716 to 1057''
* ''History of the Byzantine and Greek Empires from 1057 to 1453''
* ''A History of Greece (From Its Conquest by the Romans to the Present Time, B.C. 146 to A.D. 1864)''
** ''Greece under the Romans''
online
** ''From Its Conquest by the Crusaders to Its Conquest by the Turks (1204–1461)''
online
** Vol V: ''Greece under Othoman and Venetian domination''
online
** ''History of the Greek Revolution ''
Vol I
an
Vol II
Notes
References
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finlay, George
1799 births
1875 deaths
19th-century Scottish historians
People from Faversham
British philhellenes in the Greek War of Independence
Historians of antiquity
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
University of Göttingen alumni
British expatriates in Greece
Members of the American Antiquarian Society
The Times people
Scholars of Byzantine history