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EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL (1744-1817)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 936 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EDGEWORTH, See also:RICHARD See also:LOVELL (1744-1817) , See also:British writer, was See also:born at See also:Bath on the 31st of May 1744. The greater See also:part of his See also:life, however, was spent at Edgeworthtown, or Edgeworthstown, in the See also:county of See also:Longford, See also:Ireland, where the Edgeworth See also:family had been settled for upwards of 1 50 years. He was of See also:gentle blood—his See also:father being the son of See also:Colonel See also:Francis Edgeworth, and his See also:mother, Jane Lovell, being the daughter of See also:Samuel Lovell, a Welsh See also:judge. Richard's mother taught him to read at a very See also:early See also:age; and from childhood he had a strong love for See also:mechanical See also:science. The Rev. See also:Patrick See also:Hughes initiated him in See also:Lilye's Latin Grammar—an See also:office he also performed for See also:Goldsmith, who was born on the See also:property of the Edgeworths—and his public See also:education began, in See also:August 1952, in a school at See also:Warwick. He subsequently attended See also:Drogheda school, then reputed the best in Ireland; and, after spending two years at a school in Longford, entered Trinity See also:College, See also:Dublin, in See also:April 1761, but was transferred to Corpus Christi College, See also:Oxford, in See also:October of the same See also:year. While still at college, he made a runaway 'match, marrying at Gretna See also:Green, See also:Anna Maria, one of the daughters of See also:Paul Elers of See also:Black Bourton, See also:Oxfordshire, an old friend of his father. His eldest son was born before Edgeworth reached his twentieth birthday, and his daughter Maria in 1767. Shortly after the See also:birth of his son, he and his wife went to Edgeworthstown, but in 1765 they took a See also:house at Flare See also:Hatch, near See also:Maidenhead. Edgeworth devoted much See also:time to scientific See also:reading and experiments; and he made an See also:attempt to establish telegraphic communication (See also:Memoirs, and edition, i. 144).

He also invented a See also:

turnip-cutter, a one-wheeled See also:chaise and other contrivances. In the pursuit of his mechanical inventions he visited See also:Erasmus See also:Darwin at See also:Lichfield, where he met Anna See also:Seward, and her See also:cousin, Honora Sneyd. His See also:home was now at See also:Hare Hatch, in See also:Berkshire, where he endeavoured to educate his son according to the method explained in See also:Rousseau's Emile. In later life, however, the See also:ill-success of this experiment led him to doubt many of Rousseau's views (Memoirs, ii. 374). At the same time he kept terms at the See also:Temple, and formed the greatest friendship of his life with See also:Thomas See also:Day, the author of See also:Sandford and Merton, which was written at Edgeworth's See also:suggestion. In 176o, on the See also:death of his father, he gave up the See also:idea of being a See also:barrister; but, instead of immediately settling on his Irish See also:estate, he spent a considerable time in See also:England and See also:France, mainly in Day's See also:company. In See also:Lyons, where he resided for about two years, he took an active part in the management of public See also:works intended to turn the course of. the See also:Rhone. He was summoned to England by the death of his wife (See also:March 1773), with whom he was far from happy. Edgeworth hurried to Lichfield, to Dr Erasmus Darwin's, and at once declared his See also:passion for Honora Sneyd, which had been the cause of his See also:flight to France two years before. See also:Miss Sneyd had been the See also:object of See also:attention from Thomas Day, but her views on See also:marriage were not submissive enough to please him. She had other suitors, among them the unfortunate See also:Major See also:Andre.

She married Edgeworth (See also:

July =; 73), and after residing at Edgeworthstown for three years, they settled at Northchurch, in See also:Hertfordshire. After six years of domestic happiness, Honora Edgeworth died (April 1780), recommending her See also:husband to marry her See also:sister See also:Elizabeth; and they were actually married on See also:Christmas Day, 1780. In 1782 Edgeworth returned to Ireland, determined to improve his estate, educate his seven See also:children, and ameliorate the See also:condition of the tenants. Up to this point Edgeworth has told his own See also:story in his Memoirs. The See also:rest of his life is written by his daughter, who opens with a lengthy See also:panegyric on her father as a See also:model landlord (Memoirs, ii. 12-36). In 1785 he was associated with others in See also:founding the Royal Irish See also:Academy; and, during the two succeeding years, See also:mechanics and See also:agriculture occupied most of his time. In October 1789 his friend Day was killed by a fall from his See also:horse, and this trial was soon followed by the loss of his daughter Honora, who had just reached her fifteenth year. In 1792 the See also:health of one of Edgeworth's sons took him to See also:Clifton, where he remained with his family for about two years, returning in 1794 to Edgeworthstown. Ireland was, at that time, harassed by See also:internal disturbances, and threats of a See also:French invasion, and Edgeworth offered to establish telegraphic communication of his own invention throughout the See also:country, This offer was declined. A full See also:account of the See also:matter is given in Edgeworth's See also:Letter to See also:Lord See also:Charlemont on the See also:Telegraph; and his apparatus is explained in an " See also:Essay on the See also:art of Conveying See also:Swift and See also:Secret Intelligence," published in the See also:sixth See also:volume of the,Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. In the autumn of 1797 the third Mrs Edgeworth died.

See also:

Practical Education (1798) was written in collaboration with his daughter Maria, and embodied the experience of the authors in dealing with children. " So commenced," says Miss Edge-See also:worth, " that See also:literary See also:partnership which, for so many years, was the See also:pride and joy of my life " (Memoirs, ii. 170). This See also:book, generally regarded as old-fashioned, has a real value in the See also:history of education. Mr Edgeworth's See also:interest in the subject had been inspired by the study of Rousseau and by his friendship with Thomas Day. But he went beyond Rousseau, who See also:developed his theories from his own ingenious mind and related an imaginary See also:process. The Edgeworths brought a scientific method to their See also:work. The second Mrs Edgeworth (Honora Sneyd) began the collection of actual examples of conversations between the children and their elders. This was continued patiently by the writers of the book; and their reasonings were thus founded on an accurate See also:record of childish methods of thought. They deprecated especially any See also:measures that interrupted the See also:child's own See also:chain of reasoning. The chapters on See also:special subjects of study, See also:chronology, See also:geometry, &c., were written by Richard Lovell Edgeworth; those on toys, on rewards and punishments, on See also:temper, &c., by his daughter.' In 1798 Edgeworth married Miss See also:Beaufort, and was elected M.P. for the See also:borough of St See also:John's See also:Town, Longford. The same year, too, saw a hostile landing of the French and a formidable See also:rebellion; and for a See also:short time the Edgeworths took See also:refuge in Longford.

The See also:

winter of 1802 they spent in See also:Paris. In 1804 the See also:government accepted his telegraphic apparatus, but the See also:installation was See also:left incomplete when the fear of invasion was past. In 1802 appeared the Essay on Irish Bulls by Mr and Miss Edgeworth; and in 18o6 Edgeworth was elected a member of the See also:board of commissioners to inquire into Irish education. From 1807 till 18og much of his time was spent on mechanical experiments and in See also:writing the story of his life. In 18o8 appeared Professional Education, and in 1813 his Essay on the Construction of Roads and Carriages. He died on the 13th of See also:June 1817, and was buried in the family vault in Edgeworthstown See also:church-yard. Many of Edgeworth's works were suggested by his zeal for the education of his own children. Such were See also:Poetry Explained for See also:Young See also:People (1802), Readings in Poetry (1816), A Rational Primer (unpublished), and the parts of Early Lessons contributed by him. His speeches in the Irish See also:parliament have also been published; and numerous essays, mostly on scientific subjects, ' For an appreciation of the two Edgeworths from the teacher's point of view, see Prof. L. C. See also:Miall in the See also:Journal of Education (August 1, 1894).have appeared in the Philosophical Transactions, the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, the Monthly See also:Magazine and See also:Nicholson's Journal.

The story of his early life, told by himself, is fully as entertaining as the continuation by Maria, as it contains less dissertation and more incident. One of his daughters by his first marriage, Anna Maria, married Dr See also:

Beddoes and became the mother of T. L. Beddoes, the poet. See Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., begun by himself and concluded by his daughter, Maria Edgeworth (2 vols., 1820, 3rd and revised ed. 1844). A selection from this, giving an optimistic view of him, Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1896), was edited by Mrs Lionel See also:Tollemache.

End of Article: EDGEWORTH, RICHARD LOVELL (1744-1817)

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