Robert Perceval Graves (9 March 1810 in Dublin–5 October 1893 in Dublin) was an Irish biographer and clergyman, brother of both mathematician and bishop Charles Graves and jurist and mathematician

John T. Graves John Thomas Graves (4 December 1806 – 29 March 1870) was an Irish jurist and mathematician. He was a friend of William Rowan Hamilton, and is credited both with inspiring Hamilton to discover the quaternions in October 1843 and then discover ...

. He was a brother-in-law of the German historian

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

who was married to his sister Helena Clarissa, and an uncle of the poet

Alfred Perceval Graves Alfred Perceval Graves (22 July 184627 December 1931), was an Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist. He was the father of British poet and critic Robert Graves. Early life Graves was born in Dublin and was the son of The Rt Rev. Cha ...

. Graves is best known for his three-volume biography of

W. R. Hamilton Sir William Rowan Hamilton LL.D, DCL, MRIA, FRAS (3/4 August 1805 – 2 September 1865) was an Irish mathematician, astronomer, and physicist. He was the Andrews Professor of Astronomy at Trinity College Dublin, and Royal Astronomer of Ireland ...

Life and career

Robert Perceval Graves was born in

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

, as the third of six children of John Crosbie Graves (1776–1835), barrister at law, Chief Police Magistrate for Dublin, and Helena Perceval (1785-1835).Reverend Robert Perceval Graves
The Peerage by Darryl Lundy, Person Page 24788 He was educated in classics at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

(TCD), where he became a Scholar in 1830, got a BA in 1832 (Gold Medal) and an MA in 1837.Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860)
Burtchaell,G.D/Sadlier, Dublin, A. Thom & Co., 1935, T.U p. 342. From 1833 to 1864 he worked as a clergyman in the

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

in England, where he became friends with

Wordsworth William Wordsworth (7 April 177023 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication ''Lyrical Ballads'' (1798). Wordsworth's ' ...

and

Hartley Coleridge Hartley Coleridge, possibly David Hartley Coleridge (19 September 1796 – 6 January 1849), was an English poet, biographer, essayist, and teacher. He was the eldest son of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His sister Sara Coleridge was a poet an ...

. On 31 May 1842 he married Helena Hutchins Bellasis (1809-1888), daughter of George Hutchins Bellasis (1778-1822), Captain in H.M. 19th Regt. of Light Dragoons, and Charlotte Maude (1778-1857), of Holly Hill, Windermere. He spent the last thirty years of his life back in Dublin, where he was sub-dean of the Chapel Royal, and taught at

Alexandra College Alexandra College ( ir, Coláiste Alexandra) is a fee-charging boarding and day school for girls located in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its ...

and also served as Vice Warden there. He was an early proponent of women being allowed access to the highest echelons of education, and in 1892 he published the pamphlet "Suggestions on the Subject of University Degrees for Women" in which he urged that his alma mater TCD should admit female students (which they finally did in 1904).Rev Robert Perceval Graves
Michael Farri.blogspot, August 6, 2009 R. P. Graves is best remembered for his wide-ranging three volume ''Life of Sir William Rowan Hamilton'', published in 1882, 1885, 1889. TCD recognised his accomplishment by awarding him an honorary doctorate (LLD) in 1890. Graves died on 5 October 1893, and was interred at Mount Jerome, Dublin, on 9 October following a service at the Chapel Royal, Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graves, Robert Perceval 1810 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Irish Anglican priests Irish biographers Irish male non-fiction writers William Rowan Hamilton Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Scholars of Trinity College Dublin Graves family