Thomas Dix Hincks (1767 in

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, Ireland – 1857 in

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, Ireland) was an Irish orientalist and naturalist. He was a founding member of the

Belfast Natural History Society The Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society was founded in 1821 to promote the scientific study of animals, plants, fossils, rocks and minerals. The Society was founded by George Crawford Hyndman, James Lawson Drummond, James Grim ...

and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Education

Hincks was educated at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Dublin.

Career

Hincks was ordained a Presbyterian minister and worked at the Old Presbyterian Church (Unitarian) on Princes Street in Cork. After teaching in the Cork Institution, which he founded, he taught in

Fermoy Fermoy () is a town on the River Blackwater in east County Cork, Ireland. As of the 2016 census, the town and environs had a population of approximately 6,500 people. It is located in the barony of Condons and Clangibbon, and is in the Dá ...

, County Cork. In 1821 he was appointed Master of the Classical School at the Belfast Academical Institution, in 1822 becoming Professor of Oriental Languages. He gained a Doctorate in Laws from

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1834. He wrote ''A Greek-English Lexicon. Containing all the words that occur in the books used in most schools and collegiate courses'' London: Whittaker & Co. Dublin and edited the ''Munster Agricultural Magazine'' in Cork. For ''

Rees's Cyclopædia Rees's ''Cyclopædia'', in full ''The Cyclopædia; or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature'' was an important 19th-century British encyclopaedia edited by Rev. Abraham Rees (1743–1825), a Presbyterian minister and scholar w ...

'' he contributed the article on Ireland (Vol 19), 1811 and other Irish topics. ''The Philosophical Magazine'' article (1820) also says he wrote about Geography.

Personal life

Hincks was the father of three distinguished sons: (1) the Orientalist,

Edward Hincks Edward Hincks (19 August 1792 – 3 December 1866) was an Irish clergyman, best remembered as an Assyriologist and one of the decipherers of Mesopotamian cuneiform. He was one of the three men known as the "holy trinity of cuneiform", with ...

(2) William Hincks, Professor of Natural History, and (3) Sir Francis Hincks, Canadian politician and Governor of Barbados.

References

Additional sources

*Nash, R. and Ross, H.C.G. ''The development of natural history in early 19th century Ireland in From Linnaeus to Darwin: commentaries on the history of biology and geology'' Society for the bibliography of Natural History 13:27- *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hincks, Thomas Dix Irish naturalists Irish orientalists 1767 births 1857 deaths Scientists from Dublin (city) Irish magazine editors Irish non-subscribing Presbyterian ministers Irish Unitarians Members of the Royal Irish Academy