Henry Jackson: Papers

Henry Jackson (1839-1921), classical scholar, was born at Sheffield on 12 March 1839, the son of a surgeon. He attended Sheffield Collegiate School and Cheltenham College, and matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1858. He was elected a Fellow of Trinity in 1864 (two years after graduating Third Classic), and was appointed successively Assistant Tutor (1866), Praelector in ancient philosophy (1875) and Vice-Master (1914-19).

A considerable Greek scholar with a particular interest in Plato, he also became one of the most influential and popular teachers of classics in the University, and in 1906 succeeded Sir Richard Jebb as Regius Professor of Greek, holding the chair until his death on 25 September 1921. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 1903, and received the Order of Merit in 1908. A strong Liberal in politics, he was for more than half a century a prominent supporter of and active worker for reforms within the University, including the opening of fellowships to married men, the granting of degrees to women, the introduction of individual tutorial supervision for undergraduates, the broadening of the content of the classical tripos, and the relaxation of the requirement that all undergraduates should have a knowledge of Greek.

The bulk of the papers concern two subjects: the parliamentary bills of 1876 for the establishment of statutory commissions to consider the transfer of significant parts of the endowments of Oxford and Cambridge colleges to the use of the respective universities; and the scholarly criticism that in 1891 greeted F.G. Kenyon's edition of Aristotle's treatise on the Athenian constitution. There are also short series of letters from Jackson to two members of the Library's staff, C.E. Sayle and H.T. Francis.

The papers were collected in the University Library after Jackson's death.

Please cite as Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Henry Jackson: Papers, MS Add.6322-6323