Benjamin Hall Kennedy
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Hall Kennedy was an English
scholar and schoolmaster, known for his work in the teaching of the Latin language.
, the eldest son of Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), of a branch of the Ayrshire
family which had settled in Staffordshire
. Rann was a scholar and man of letters, several of whose sons rose to distinction. Benjamin was educated at Shrewsbury School
, and St John's College, Cambridge
. After a brilliant university career, he was elected fellow and lecturer in classics
at St John's College in 1828. Two years later, he became an assistant master at Harrow
.
In 1836, he returned to Shrewsbury as headmaster. He retained this post until 1866, the thirty years being marked by a long series of successes for his pupils, chiefly in classics. When he retired from Shrewsbury, a large collection was made, and was used partly on new school buildings and partly on the founding of a Latin
professorship
at Cambridge. The first holders were both old pupils of Kennedy, H. A. J. Munro and J. E. B. Mayor
. In 1841 he became prebendary
of Lichfield
.
In 1867, Kennedy was elected Regius Professor of Greek
at Cambridge and canon of Ely Cathedral
.
From 1870 to 1880 he was a member of the committee for the revision of the New Testament
. In 1870 he also became a member of the University Council.
He supported the access of women to a university education, and took a prominent part in the establishment of Newnham
and Girton
colleges. In politics, he had liberal sympathies. He died near Torquay
.
still follow this approach.
Other works are:
He contributed largely to the collection known as Sabrinae Corolla (D. S. Colman, Shrewsbury, c. 1950), and published a collection of verse in Greek
, Latin and English under the title of Between Whiles (2nd ed., 1882), with many autobiographical details.
was a barrister and wrote original works as well as translating and editing classical works. His brother William Rann Kennedy (1814-1891) was a prominent educator, and the father of Lord Justice Sir William Rann Kennedy (b. 1846), a distinguished Cambridge scholar.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
scholar and schoolmaster, known for his work in the teaching of the Latin language.
Biography
He was born at Summer Hill, near BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, the eldest son of Rann Kennedy (1772–1851), of a branch of the Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
family which had settled in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. Rann was a scholar and man of letters, several of whose sons rose to distinction. Benjamin was educated at Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
, and St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
. After a brilliant university career, he was elected fellow and lecturer in classics
Classics
Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world ; especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity Classics (sometimes encompassing Classical Studies or...
at St John's College in 1828. Two years later, he became an assistant master at Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
.
In 1836, he returned to Shrewsbury as headmaster. He retained this post until 1866, the thirty years being marked by a long series of successes for his pupils, chiefly in classics. When he retired from Shrewsbury, a large collection was made, and was used partly on new school buildings and partly on the founding of a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
professorship
Kennedy Professor of Latin
The Kennedy Professorship of Latin is the senior professorship of Latin at the University of Cambridge.In 1865, when Benjamin Hall Kennedy retired as headmaster of Shrewsbury School, his friends and former pupils created a fund with the intention of founding a chair in Latin to be named after him...
at Cambridge. The first holders were both old pupils of Kennedy, H. A. J. Munro and J. E. B. Mayor
John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor
John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor was an English classical scholar.He was born at Baddegama, Sri Lanka , and returned to England to be educated at Shrewsbury School and St John's College, Cambridge....
. In 1841 he became prebendary
Prebendary
A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
of Lichfield
Diocese of Lichfield
The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...
.
In 1867, Kennedy was elected Regius Professor of Greek
Regius Professor of Greek (Cambridge)
The Regius Professorship of Greek is one of the oldest professorships at the University of Cambridge. The chair was founded by Henry VIII in 1540 with a stipend of £40 per year, subsequently increased in 1848 by a canonry of Ely Cathedral....
at Cambridge and canon of Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral is the principal church of the Diocese of Ely, in Cambridgeshire, England, and is the seat of the Bishop of Ely and a suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon...
.
From 1870 to 1880 he was a member of the committee for the revision of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
. In 1870 he also became a member of the University Council.
He supported the access of women to a university education, and took a prominent part in the establishment of Newnham
Newnham College, Cambridge
Newnham College is a women-only constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1871 by Henry Sidgwick, and was the second Cambridge college to admit women after Girton College...
and Girton
Girton College, Cambridge
Girton College is one of the 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. It was England's first residential women's college, established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon. The full college status was only received in 1948 and marked the official admittance of women to the...
colleges. In politics, he had liberal sympathies. He died near Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
.
Writings
Among a number of classical school books published by him are two, a Public School Latin Primer and Public School Latin Grammar, which were for long in use in nearly all English schools. The medieval way of writing medieval Latin noun tables, starting with the Nominative and then proceeding to the Genitive was used in England prior to Kennedy's Primer and is still widely used in America and other countries (e.g. in the Wheelock's Latin course). Kennedy changed the order of writing the noun endings so that the nominative was always followed by the accusative, in order to bring out the similarities between these cases in many nouns more effectively. Kennedy's Primer was so widely used and was so influential that this led to a permanent change in the way that Latin is taught in the U.K. Even today modern books such as the Cambridge Latin CourseCambridge Latin Course
The Cambridge Latin Course is a series of textbooks published by Cambridge University Press, used to teach Latin to secondary school students. First published in 1970, the series is now in its fifth edition, and has sold over 3.5 million copies...
still follow this approach.
Other works are:
- The Psalter in English Verse (1860)
- Elementary Greek Grammar (1862)
- SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, Oedipus TyrannusOedipus the KingOedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
(2nd ed., 1885) - AristophanesAristophanesAristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
, BirdsThe Birds (play)The Birds is a comedy by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed in 414 BCE at the City Dionysia where it won second prize. It has been acclaimed by modern critics as a perfectly realized fantasy remarkable for its mimicry of birds and for the gaiety of its songs...
(1874) - AeschylusAeschylusAeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
, Agamemnon, with introduction, metrical translation and notes (2nd ed., 1882) - A commentary on VirgilVirgilPublius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil in English , was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He is known for three major works of Latin literature, the Eclogues , the Georgics, and the epic Aeneid...
(3rd ed., 1881) - PlatoPlatoPlato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
, Theaetetus, English translation (1881)
He contributed largely to the collection known as Sabrinae Corolla (D. S. Colman, Shrewsbury, c. 1950), and published a collection of verse in Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
, Latin and English under the title of Between Whiles (2nd ed., 1882), with many autobiographical details.
Family
His younger brother Charles Rann KennedyCharles Rann Kennedy
Charles Rann Kennedy was an English lawyer and classicist, best remembered for his involvement in the Swinfen will case and the issues of contingency fee agreements and legal ethics that it involved.-Life:...
was a barrister and wrote original works as well as translating and editing classical works. His brother William Rann Kennedy (1814-1891) was a prominent educator, and the father of Lord Justice Sir William Rann Kennedy (b. 1846), a distinguished Cambridge scholar.