Sir William Ridgeway,
FBA FRAI (6 August 1853 – 12 August 1926) was an Anglo-Irish
classical scholar
Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and the
Disney Professor of Archaeology
The Disney Professorship of Archaeology is an endowed chair in archaeology at the University of Cambridge. It was endowed by John Disney in 1851 with a donation of £1,000, followed by a further £2,500 bequest upon his death in 1857.
Disney Pro ...
at
Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...
.
Biography
Ridgeway was born 6 August 1853, at Ballydermot,
King's County, Ireland, the son of Rev. John Henry Ridgeway and Marianne Ridgeway.
He was a direct descendant of one of
Cromwell's settlers in Ireland. He was educated at
Portarlington School and
Trinity College, Dublin, after which he studied at
Peterhouse, Cambridge then
Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of t ...
, completing the Classical
tripos
At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...
there in 1880.
In 1883, Ridgeway was elected Professor of Greek at
Queen's College, Cork
University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork.
The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...
, then Disney Professor of Archaeology at Cambridge in 1892. He also held tenure as
Gifford lecturer in Religion at
Aberdeen University
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
from 1909 to 1911 from which was published ''The Evolution of Religions of Ancient Greece and Rome''.
He contributed articles to the ''
Encyclopedia Biblica
''Encyclopaedia Biblica: A Critical Dictionary of the Literary, Political and Religion History, the Archeology, Geography and Natural History of the Bible'' (1899), edited by Thomas Kelly Cheyne and J. Sutherland Black, is a critical encyclopedi ...
'' (1903),
Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various t ...
(1911) and wrote ''The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards'' (1892), and ''The Early Age of Greece'' (1901) which were significant works in Archaeology and Anthropology.
Ridgeway was President of the Royal Anthropological Institute 1908-1910 and was instrumental in the foundation of the Cambridge school of Anthropology.
Ridgeway received an
honorary Doctorate of Letters
Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...
(D.Litt.) from the
University of Dublin in June 1902. He was elected a Fellow of the British Association in 1904. For his research on horses he received in 1909 the Sc.D. of Cambridge.
[ He was knighted in the 1919 Birthday Honours list.
In 1880, Ridgeway married Lucinda Maria Kate Samuels in Rathdown, County Dublin. Their daughter Lucy Marion Ridgeway (1882–1958) married economist ]John Archibald Venn
John Archibald Venn (10 November 1883 – 15 March 1958) was a British economist. He was President of Queens' College, Cambridge, from 1932 until his death, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University 1941–1943, university archivist, and a ...
in 1906.
Selected publications
Articles
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Books
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Arms
References
External links
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Ridgeway's correspondence and papers at NAHSTE
'William Ridgeway's Two Models of Early Greece', Simon J. Cook, ''History of European Ideas'', 2014
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ridgeway, William
1853 births
1926 deaths
British archaeologists
British Anglicans
Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge
Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
Academics of University College Cork
Knights Bachelor
Disney Professors of Archaeology
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
Fellows of the British Academy
Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
Presidents of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland