John Shakespear (August 1774 – 1858) was an orientalist and professor of
Hindustani.
John Shakespear was born in
Lount, Leicestershire, in August 1774, the son of a poor farmer. He was educated at the parish school at
Staunton Harold and then at a school kept by a clergyman, who brought him to the notice of
Francis Rawdon-Hastings
Francis Edward Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, (9 December 175428 November 1826), styled The Honourable Francis Rawdon from birth until 1762, Lord Rawdon between 1762 and 1783, The Lord Rawdon from 1783 to 1793 and The Earl of Moira b ...
. Lord Rawdon sent young Shakespeare to London to study Arabic under
John Richardson. From 1805 to 1809 Shakespear held an orientalist professorship at the
Royal Military College, Marlow. In 1809 he was appointed professor of
Hindustani at
Addiscombe Military Seminary and held the professorship until his retirement in 1829 with a pension of £300 per annum.
Shakespear's ''A Hindustani Grammar'' (1813) was published as a condensed grammar to replace
John B. Gilchrist's ''A Grammar of Hindoostanee Language'' (1796), which had gone out of print.
In retirement he bought
Langley Priory in Leicestershire. Believing that he might be descended from a branch of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's family, John Shakespear in 1856 gave £2,500 to the trustees of the fund for preserving
Shakespeare's Birthplace
Shakespeare's Birthplace is a restored 16th-century half-timbered house situated in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, where it is believed that William Shakespeare was born in 1564 and spent his childhood years. at
Stratford-upon-Avon. He died unmarried in 1858 and his estate was inherited by his nephew, Charles Bowles, who took the surname Shakespear.
In 1835
H. P. Briggs painted Shakespear's portrait, which was at Langley Priory for many years.
Selected publications
* ''Hindustani Grammar'', 1813
4th edition, 1843 6th edition, 1855.
* ''Dictionary of Hindustani and English'', 1817
3rd edition, 1834 to the fourth edition of 1849 was added an English-Hindustani Dictionary.
* ''Muntakhabat-i-Hindi, Selections in Hindustani'', 1817–18.
* ''Introduction to the Hindustani Language'', 1845.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakespeare
1774 births
1858 deaths
Linguists from England
Historical linguists
English philologists
English orientalists
British East India Company people
English male non-fiction writers
People from North West Leicestershire District