Churchill Babington
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Churchill Babington (; 11 March 182112 January 1889) 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 ...
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 ...
, archaeologist and naturalist. He served as Rector of
Cockfield, Suffolk Cockfield is a village and civil parish located approximately from Lavenham in Suffolk, England. The village consists of a central point and several outlying hamlets: Buttons Green, Colchester Green, Cross Green, Great Green, Oldhall Green ...
. He was a cousin of
Cardale Babington Charles Cardale Babington (23 November 1808 – 22 July 1895) was an English botanist and archaeologist. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1851. Babington was the son of Joseph Babington and Cathérine née Whitter, and a nephew ...
.


Life

He was born at
Rothley Rothley ( ) is a village and civil parish within the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. Situated around west of the River Soar and north of Leicester, it had a population of 3,612 inhabitants . The population measured at the 201 ...
Temple, in Leicestershire, the only son of Matthew Drake Babington. He was a scion of the Babington family. He was first educated by his father, and then studied under
Charles Wycliffe Goodwin Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (1817–1878) was an English Egyptologist, bible scholar, lawyer and judge. His last judicial position was as Acting Chief Judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan. Early life Goodwin was born on 2 April 18 ...
, the orientalist and archaeologist. In 1839 he followed his cousin, Cardale, to St John's College, Cambridge and graduated in 1843, seventh in the first class of the classical tripos and a ''senior optime''. In 1845 he obtained the Hulsean Prize for his essay ''The Influence of Christianity in promoting the Abolition of Slavery in Europe''. In 1846 he was elected to a fellowship and took orders. He proceeded to the degree of M.A. in 1846 and D.D. in 1879. From 1848 to 1861 he was vicar of Horningsea, near
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...
, and from 1866 to his death he was vicar of Cockfield in Suffolk. From 1865 to 1880 he held the
Disney professorship 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. In his lectures, illustrated from his own collections of coins and vases, he dealt chiefly with
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and
Ancient Roman pottery Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae used fo ...
and
numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...
. Babington wrote on a variety of subjects. His early familiarity with country life gave him a taste for natural history, especially
botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
and
ornithology Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
. He was also an authority on
conchology Conchology () is the study of mollusc shells. Conchology is one aspect of malacology, the study of molluscs; however, malacology is the study of molluscs as whole organisms, whereas conchology is confined to the study of their shells. It includ ...
. He collected on field trips along with many others including
Edward Byles Cowell Edward Byles Cowell, (23 January 1826 – 9 February 1903) was a noted translator of Persian poetry and the first professor of Sanskrit at Cambridge University. Cowell was born in Ipswich, the son of Charles Cowell and Marianne Byles. Elizabet ...
. He was among the few to record the endangered
eskimo curlew The Eskimo curlew (''Numenius borealis''), also known as northern curlew, is a species of curlew in the family Scolopacidae. It was one of the most numerous shorebirds in the tundra of western Arctic Canada and Alaska. Thousands of birds were th ...
in England. He was the author of the appendices on botany (in part) and ornithology in Potter's ''History and Antiquities of Charnwood Forest'' (1842). In 1853, he was elected a Fellow of the
Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...
. His family was connected with that of the Macaulays and he wrote ''Mr Macaulay's Character of the Clergy'' (1849), a defence of the clergy of the 17th Century, which received the approval of
Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
. He also brought out the '' editio princeps'' of the speeches of
Hypereides Hypereides or Hyperides ( grc-gre, Ὑπερείδης, ''Hypereidēs''; c. 390 – 322 BC; English pronunciation with the stress variably on the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable) was an Athenian logographer (speech writer). He was one ...
''Against
Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual pr ...
'' (1850), ''On Behalf of Lycophron and Euxenippus'' (1853) and his ''Funeral Oration'' (1858). It was by his edition of these speeches from the papyri discovered at Thebes (Egypt) in 1847 and 1856 that Babington's fame as a Greek scholar was made. In 1855 he published an edition of ''Benefizio della Morte di Cristo'', a remarkable book of the Reformation period, attributed to Paleario, of which nearly all the copies had been destroyed by the Inquisition. Babington's edition was a facsimile of the ''editio princeps'' published at Venice in 1543, with an Introduction and French and English versions. He also edited the first two volumes of Higden's ''Polychronicon'' (1858) and Bishop Pecock's ''Represser of Overmuch Blaming of the Clergy'' (1860); ''Introductory Lecture on Archaeology'' (1865); ''Roman Antiquities found at Rougham'' (1872); ''Catalogue of Birds of Suffolk'' (1884–1886); ''Flora of Suffolk'' (with W. M. Hind, 1889), etc. He catalogued the classical manuscripts in the University Library and the Greek and English coins in the
Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Vis ...
. He died of rheumatic fever and was survived only by his widow, daughter of Colonel John Alexander Wilson.


References


Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Babington, Churchill 1821 births 1889 deaths People from Rothley English classical scholars English archaeologists English botanists English mycologists English numismatists Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge
Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
Disney Professors of Archaeology