Biography of whitley stokes williams
Whitley Stokes (Celtic scholar)
Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar
This article is about the Celtic scholar. For his grandfather, the physician, see Whitley Stokes (physician).
Whitley Stokes | |
|---|---|
| Born | ()28 February Dublin, Ireland |
| Died | 13 April () (aged&#;79) London, England |
| Occupation | Lawyer, Civil servant |
| Nationality | Irish |
Whitley Stokes, CSI, CIE, FBA (28 February – 13 April ) was an Irish lawyer and Celtic scholar.
Background
He was a son of William Stokes (–), and a grandson of Whitley Stokes the physician and anti-Malthusian (–), each of whom was Regius Professor of Physic at Trinity College Dublin. His sister Margaret Stokes was a writer and archaeologist.
He was born at 5 Merrion Square, Dublin and educated at St Columba's College where he was taught Irish by Denis Coffey, author of a Primer of the Irish Language.[1] Through his father he came to know the Irish antiquaries Samuel Ferguson, Eugene O'Curry, John O'Donovan and George Petrie.[1] He entered Trinity College Dublin in and graduated with a BA in His friend and contemporary Rudolf Thomas Siegfried (–) became assistant librarian in Trinity College in , and the college's first professor of Sanskrit in It is likely that Stokes learnt both Sanskrit and comparative philology from Siegfried, thus acquiring a skill-set rare among Celtic scholars in Ireland at the time.[2]
Career
Stokes qualified for the bar at Inner Temple.
His instructors in the law were Arthur Cayley, Hugh McCalmont Hughes, and Thomas Chitty.[3] Stokes became an English barrister on 17 November , practicing in London before going to India in , where he filled several official positions. In he married Mary Bazely by whom he had four sons and two daughters.[1] One of his daughters, Maïve, compiled a book of Indian Fairy Tales in (she was 12 years old) based on stories told to her by her Indian ayahs and a man-servant.
Biography of whitley stokes family His sister Margaret Stokes was a writer and archaeologist. His friend and contemporary Rudolf Thomas Siegfried — became assistant librarian in Trinity College in , and the college's first professor of Sanskrit in It is likely that Stokes learnt both Sanskrit and comparative philology from Siegfried, thus acquiring a skill-set rare among Celtic scholars in Ireland at the time. Stokes qualified for the bar at Inner Temple. In he married Mary Bazely by whom he had four sons and two daughters.It also included some notes by Mrs. Mary Stokes.[4][5] Mary died while the family was still living in India. In , Stokes was appointed legal member of the viceroy's council, and he drafted the codes of civil and criminal procedure and did much other valuable work of the same nature.
In he became president of the commission on Indian law. Nine books by Stokes on Celtic studies were published in India. He returned to settle permanently in London in and married Elizabeth Temple in [1] In he was made a CSI, and two years later a CIE He was an original fellow of the British Academy, an honorary fellow of Jesus College, Oxford and foreign associate of the Institut de France.[2]
Celtic scholarship
Whitley Stokes is perhaps most famous as a Celtic scholar, and in this field he worked both in India and in England.
He studied Irish, Breton and Cornish texts. His chief interest in Irish was as a source of material for comparative philology.
Biography of whitley stokes jr His sister Margaret Stokes was a writer and archaeologist. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin , Whitley Stokes became an English barrister in , and in he went to India , where he filled several official positions. In he was appointed legal member of the viceroy's council, and he drafted the codes of civil and criminal procedure and did much other valuable work of the same nature. In he was president of the commission on Indian law. He returned to England inDespite his learning in Old Irish and Middle Irish, he never acquired Irish pronunciation and never mastered Modern Irish.[2] In the hundred years since his death he has continued to be a central figure in Celtic scholarship.[2] Many of his editions have not been superseded in that time and his total output in Celtic studies comes to over 15, pages.[2] He was a correspondent and close friend of Kuno Meyer from onwards.
With Meyer he established the journal Archiv für celtische Lexicographie and was the co-editor, with Ernst Windisch, of the Irische Texte series.[2] In Stokes's translation of Vita tripartita Sancti Patricii, along with a written introduction, was published.[6]
In he was awarded the Cunningham Gold Medal by the Royal Irish Academy.[7]
Death and reputation
Stokes died at his London home, 15 Grenville Place, Kensington, in and is buried in Paddington Old Cemetery, Willesden Lane, where his grave is marked by a Celtic cross.
Another Celtic cross was erected as a memorial to him at St Fintan's, Sutton, Dublin. The Gaelic League paper An Claidheamh Soluis called Stokes "the greatest of the Celtologists" and expressed pride that an Irishman should have excelled in a field which was at that time dominated by continental scholars.[2] In the Canadian scholar James F.
Kenney described Stokes as "the greatest scholar in philology that Ireland has produced, and the only one that may be ranked with the most famous of continental savants".[2]
A conference entitled "Ireland, India, London: The Tripartite Life of Whitley Stokes" took place at the University of Cambridge from 18 to 19 September [8] The event was organised to mark the centenary of Stokes's death.[8] A volume of essays based on the papers delivered at this conference, The Tripartite Life of Whitley Stokes (–), was published by Four Courts Press in autumn [9]
In Dáibhí Ó Cróinín published Whitley Stokes (–): The Lost Celtic Notebooks Rediscovered, a volume based on the scholarship in Stokes's notebooks which had been resting unnoticed at the University Library, Leipzig since [10]
Works
Collections
In Stokes' daughters presented University College London with their father's library.[11] The collection spans c books, many of which contain autograph letters between Stokes and Kuno Meyer, and from other philologists.[11] Stokes' archive also resides at University College London; the 4 box collection comprises his working notes on philology.[12]