Robert Ainsworth (September 16604 April 1743) was an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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 ...
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoreti ...
, and author of a well-known compendious ''Dictionary of the Latin Tongue''.
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, in September 1660. After he had finished his own education, he commenced as schoolmaster at
Bolton
Bolton (, locally ) is a large town in Greater Manchester in North West England, formerly a part of Lancashire. A former mill town, Bolton has been a production centre for textiles since Flemish people, Flemish weavers settled in the area i ...
; from there he went to London; and at
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...
, Hackney, and other suburban villages, continued to keep a school, until he retired some years before his death.
Ainsworth died on 4 April 1743, at the age of 82, and was buried at
St Matthias Old Church
St Matthias Old Church is the modern name given to the Poplar Chapel built by the East India Company in 1654, in Poplar in the East End of London. The church is designated a Grade II* listed building.
St Matthias Old Church is one of the ver ...
, Poplar, where an inscription in Latin verse, written by himself, was placed over his remains and those of his wife. One of the heirs of his estate was a nephew, Peter Ainsworth (born 1713), who used his uncle's money to establish a successful bleach works at
Halliwell
Halliwell is a surname. It may refer to:
People
* Bryn Halliwell (born 1980), English football goalkeeper
* Danny Halliwell (born 1981), rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s
* David Halliwell (1936–2006), British dramatis ...
in Bolton. He was the grandfather of
Peter Ainsworth
Peter Michael Ainsworth (16 November 1956 – 6 April 2021) was a British Conservative politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for East Surrey from 1992 to 2010.
Following his retirement from politics, Ainsworth was appointed UK ch ...
(1790–1870), a Whig politician.
Works
In 1736, after about twenty years' labour, Ainsworth published his major work, with a dedication to
Richard Mead
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...
, and a preface explaining his reasons for undertaking it. Improved editions by Samuel Patrick, John Ward, William Young of Gillingham,
Isaac Kimber
Isaac Kimber (1692–1755) was an English General Baptist minister, biographer, and journalist.
Life
Kimber was born at Wantage, Berkshire, on 1 December 1692. He studied languages under John Ward (academic), John Ward, and took a course of philo ...
(editing 1751) and
Thomas Morell
Thomas Morell (; 18 March 1703 – 19 February 1784) was an English librettist, classical scholar, and printer.Nathaniel Thomas's version was from 1758. John Carey's (1816) was a later version; there were also abridgments by Young and Morell. Another 19th-century edition was that of
Benjamin Wrigglesworth Beatson
Benjamin Wrigglesworth Beatson (24 January 1803 – 24 July 1874) was an English classical scholar.
Beatson was born in London, the son of Anby Beatson, a Cheapside merchant. He was educated first at Merchant Taylors' School, and afterwards at ...
with William Ellis, based on the 1752 edition.
Earlier, Ainsworth had published a treatise on education, entitled ''The most Natural and Easy Way of Institution'' (1698), in which he advocated the teaching of Latin by conversational methods and deprecates punishment of any sort. Ainsworth was author also ''Monumenta Vetustatis Kempiana'' (1720), an expansive account of the classical collection of
John Kemp
John Kemp ( – 22 March 1454, surname also spelled Kempe) was a medieval English cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor of England.
Biography
Kemp was the son of Thomas Kempe, a gentleman of Ollantigh, in the parish ...
, of ''A Short Treatise on Grammar'', and some smaller pieces. He is said to have been a hunter after old coins and other curiosities.