William Higgs Barker (1744–1815) was an English

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

Life

Barker was of the same family as the Hebraist Samuel Barker, and son of George Barker, tailor, of

Great Russell Street Great Russell Street is a street in Bloomsbury, London, best known for being the location of the British Museum. It runs between Tottenham Court Road (part of the A400 route) in the west, and Southampton Row (part of the A4200 route) in the east ...

, London. He was admitted on the foundation of St. Paul's School, London 10 May 1756, aged twelve. He became Pauline Exhibitioner at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1761, Perry Exhibitioner 1764–7, and took his degree of B.A. in 1765. He was also a fellow of

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

, Surrey, and took holy orders. He was elected master of Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School at

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

22 July 1767, an office which he held for the rest of his life. He was also rector of

Bleddfa Bleddfa is a village in which lies on the road from Knighton to Penybont and is located in the community of Llangunllo, Powys, Wales. It is 5 miles from Knighton, 57 miles (92 km) from Cardiff and 141 miles (226 km) from London. Tw ...

from 1793.

Works

He published a short work, entitled 'Grammar of the

Hebrew Language Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

adapted to the use of schools, with Biblical examples,’ 1774; and a 'Hebrew and English Lexicon,’ 1812.

References

1744 births 1815 deaths Christian Hebraists Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 18th-century English educators Schoolteachers from London 18th-century scholars 18th-century English non-fiction writers 18th-century English male writers 18th-century English writers English non-fiction writers 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests English male non-fiction writers {{UK-academic-bio-stub