Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 – 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and barrister, author of '' A Dictionary of English Etymology''. He was a cousin of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...

, whom his sister Emma married in 1839.

Early life

Wedgwood was born at Tarrant Gunville in Dorset, the fourth son of Josiah Wedgwood II and Elizabeth Allen of Cresselly, Pembrokeshire. He was educated at Rugby School, then entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1820 but switched to Christ's College the following year. Though he did well in maths, graduating as 8th wrangler, he finished bottom in the classical tripos at Cambridge in 1824, for which he was awarded the first "wooden wedge", equivalent to the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

, and jokingly named for him.

Career

After leaving Cambridge, Wedgwood read for the chancery bar. In 1828, he qualified as a barrister, but never practised. Between 1831 and 1837, he served as a police magistrate and sat at the Surrey magistrates' court at Union Hall, Southwark. A notable case that came before him during his tenure was that of James Pratt and John Smith in 1835, whom he committed to trial after their arrest for homosexual acts. After their trial and conviction at the Central Criminal Court, the two became the last to be executed for sodomy in England. This was in spite of Wedgwood himself calling for a commutation of their death sentences in a letter to the Home Secretary. Wedgwood resigned from the magistracy after deciding that one of his duties, the administrations of

oath Traditionally an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to g ...

s, was inconsistent with the commandments of the New Testament. Between 1838 and 1849, he held the post of Registrar of Metropolitan Public Carriage. His main fields of study were

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

and

etymology Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...

. His ''Dictionary of Etymology'' was published in 1857. He was a founding member of the Philological Society.

Spiritualism

Wedgwood became interested in

spiritualism Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and Mind-body dualism, dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (w ...

and attended

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

s. In 1874, he attempted to get T.H. Huxley involved in spiritualism by sending him an alleged spirit photograph. Huxley was not impressed and suggested the photograph had been produced fraudulently by the use of a second image placed on the plate inside the camera. Hensleigh refused to believe this explanation and considered the photograph to be genuine. Wedgwood was a member of the

British National Association of Spiritualists The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Assoc ...

and a vice-president of the

Society for Psychical Research The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a nonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as psychic or paranormal. It describes itself as the "first society to co ...

Personal life

He married :Frances Emma Elizabeth "Fanny" Mackintosh (1800–1889) in 1832, his first cousin, the daughter of Sir James Mackintosh and his second wife Catherine "Kitty" Allen. They had six children: * Frances Julia Wedgwood (1833–1913), feminist philosopher and writer known as "Snow". * James Mackintosh Wedgwood (1834–1864) * Ernest Hensleigh Wedgwood (1837–1898) * Katherine Euphemia Wedgwood (1839–1934), married Thomas Farrer, 1st Baron Farrer. * Alfred Allen Wedgwood (1842–1892), father of J. I. Wedgwood. * Hope Elizabeth (1844–1935) married her cousin Godfrey Wedgwood. Wedgwood died on 2 June 1891 at his house at 94 Gower Street, London. He was buried at the Church of St. Peter ad Vincula, Stoke on Trent, now known as Stoke Minster. His funeral on 4 June 1891 was noted in his sister's diary.

Legacy

A collection of around 550 books from his library is held by the library of the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. They were donated to the university by his daughter, Frances Julia Wedgwood.

Partial list of works

* ''The Principles of Geometrical Demonstration'', 1844
''On the Development of Understanding''
1848. * ''The Geometry of the Three First Books of Euclid by Direct Proofs from Definitions Alone'', 1856.
''On the Origin of Language''
1866.
''A Dictionary of English Etymology'', Second Edition
1872.
''Contested Etymologies in the Dictionary of Rev. W. W. Skeat''
1882.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Hensleigh Wedgwood profile
darwin.lib.cam.ac.uk

wardsbookofdays.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Wedgwood, Hensleigh 1803 births 1891 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Darwin–Wedgwood family English spiritualists Etymologists Parapsychologists People from Dorset