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RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH (1744-1817)

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 936 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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RICHARD See also:LOVELL See also:EDGEWORTH (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 See also:Edgeworth See also:family had been settled for upwards of 1 50 years . He was of See also:gentle See also:blood—his See also:father being the son of See also:Colonel See also:Francis Edgeworth, and his See also:mother, Jane See also:Lovell, being the daughter of See also:Samuel Lovell, a Welsh See also:judge . See also: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 See also: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 .

Phoenix-squares

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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: RICHARD LOVELL EDGEWORTH (1744-1817)
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