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Thomas Gaisford

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English classical scholar and clergyman

Thomas Gaisford
Thomas Gaisford, portrait taken from the Imagines Philologorum
Born(1779-12-22)22 December 1779
Iford Manor, Wiltshire, England
Died2 June 1855(1855-06-02) (aged 75)
Christ Church, Oxford, England
Resting placeThe nave of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
NationalityBritish
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Occupation(s)Classical scholar, clergyman
Spouses
  • Helen Margaret Douglas, 1815–1830 (her death)
  • Jane Catharine Jenkyns, 1832–1855 (his death)
ChildrenFive
Parents
  • John Gaisford
  • Sarah Bushall

Thomas Gaisford (22 December 1779 – 2 June 1855) was an English classical scholar and clergyman. He served as Dean of Christ Church from 1831 until his death.

Early life

Gaisford was born at Iford Manor, Wiltshire, the son of John Gaisford. He was educated at Hyde Abbey School, Winchester. He entered Christ Church, Oxford in 1797, graduating B.A. 1801, M.A. 1804, B.D. & D.D. 1831.

Academic career

He became a Student (i.e. a Fellow) at Christ Church in 1800, then a tutor. In 1811, he was appointed Regius Professor of Greek. Taking orders, he held (1815–1847) the college living of Westwell, Oxfordshire, and other ecclesiastical preferments simultaneously with his professorship. In 1829, he was offered the position of Bishop of Oxford, but he turned it down. From 1831 until his death, he was Dean of Christ Church.

As curator of the Bodleian Library and principal delegate of the Oxford University Press, Gaisford was instrumental in securing the co-operation of distinguished European scholars as collators, notably Bekker and Dindorf. His numerous contributions to Greek literature include: Hephaestion's Encheiridion (1810); Poëtae minores Graeci (1814–1820); Stobaeus' Florilegium (1822); Herodotus, with variorum notes (1824); Suidas's Lexicon (1834); Etymologicum Magnum (1848). Eusebius's Praeparatio evangelica (1843) and Demonstratio evangelica (1852). Thomas Edward Brown "won a double first, however, and was elected a fellow of Oriel in April 1854, Dean Gaisford having refused to promote him to a senior studentship of his own college, on the ground that no servitor had ever before attained to that honour. Although at that time an Oriel fellowship conferred a deserved distinction, Brown never took kindly to the life, but, after a few terms of private pupils, returned to the Isle of Man as vice-principal of his old school."

Personal life

On 11 May 1815 Gaisford married Helen Margaret Douglas (1791–1830) the daughter of the Rev. Robert Douglas. They had five children. After she died in 1830, he married Jane Catharine Jenkyns (1787–1863); she was the sister of Dr Richard Jenkyns, master of Balliol College and Dr Henry Jenkyns.

On 23 June 1843, Gaisford's 21-year-old son, William Gaisford, drowned while swimming in the river Thames at Sandford Lock, a notoriously dangerous spot. He got into difficulties and his friend, Richard Phillimore (the son of Joseph Phillimore), entered the water to save him. However, both men perished. They are buried in Christ Church Cathedral. They are commemorated by an obelisk at Sandford Lock and two memorial tablets in the north walk of the Cathedral cloisters.

Legacy

The Gaisford Prize was founded in Gaisford's honour in 1856, shortly after his death. Gaisford Street in Kentish Town, north London, was named in his honour.

Works

Poetae minores graeci, vol. I, 1823

Quotations

  • "Nor can I do better, in conclusion, than impress upon you the study of Greek literature, which not only elevates above the vulgar herd, but leads not infrequently to positions of considerable emolument." –Th. Gaisford, Christmas Day Sermon in the Cathedral, Oxford (Rev. W. Tuckwell, Reminiscences of Oxford, 2nd ed., 1907, p. 124)
  • "It was said that Gaisford, on his visit to Germany, had some difficulty in escaping from the 'umarmung' of some of its scholars, exclaiming (in the apprehension of a 'kuss' on both cheeks) 'Ohe ! jam satis, amice'." G.V. Cox, Recollections of Oxford, London : Macmillan, 1870, p. 411, fn. 3. 'Ohe ! jam satis, amice' means idiomatically : 'Oh, that's quite enough, my friend.' The quotation derives with amendment from Abraham Cowley's Naufragium Joculare ('The Hilarious Shipwreck'.), 1638, Act 1, sc. 6. (Geoffrey Thomas, Birkbeck College, University of London.)

Notes

  1. ^ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Gaisford, Thomas (1)" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  2. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gaisford, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 390.
  3. Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas (1911). "Brown, Thomas Edward" . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 662–663.
  4. Michael Popkin (2001). "Brave Deeds and Tragedies". OXFORD INSCRIPTIONS – Inscribed Stones and Plaques in Oxford. Archived from the original on 24 April 2002. Retrieved 27 November 2009.

NB: The London Courier and Evening Gazette dated 13 July 1815 has the following marriage announcement:- On 'Tuesday last, at Oxford, the Rev. Thomas Gaisford, M.A. Regius Professor of Greek, and Rector of Westwell, Oxtordshire, Helen, second daughter of the late Rev. Robert Douglas

Dean of Christ Church, Oxford
Predecessors
Early modern
Late modern
* – Academic deans only; prior to the establishment of Christ Church Cathedral; ** – Cathedral deans at Osney.
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