George Rawlinson

George Rawlinson (1812-1902), 19th century English scholar and historian, was born at Chadlington, Oxfordshire, on November 23 1812, being the younger brother of Sir Henry Rawlinson.

Having taken his degree at Oxford (from Trinity College, Oxford) in 1838, he was elected to a fellowship at Exeter College, Oxford in 1840, of which from 1842 to 1846 he was fellow and tutor. He was ordained in 1841; was Bampton lecturer in 1859, and Camden professor of ancient history from 1861 to 1889.

In 1872 he was appointed canon of Canterbury, and after 1888 he was rector of All Hallows, Lombard Street. In 1873 he was appointed proctor in Convocation for the Chapter of Canterbury. He married Louisa, daughter of Sir RA Chermside, in 1846.

His chief publications are his translation of the History of Herodotus (in collaboration with Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir Gardner Wilkinson), 1858—60; The Five Great Monarchies of the Ancient Eastern World, 1862-67; The Sixth Great Oriental Monarchy (Parthian), 1873; The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy (Sassanian), 1875; Manual of Ancient History, 1869; Historical Illustrations of the Old Testament, 1871; The Origin of Nations, 1877; History of Ancient Egypt, 1881; Egypt and Babylon, 1885; History of Phoenicia, 1889; Parthia, 1893; Memoir of Major-General Sir HC Rawlinson, 1898. He was a contributor to the Speaker’s Commentary, the Pulpit Commentary, Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, and various similar publications; and he was the author of the article "Herodotus" in the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. He died on October 7 1902.

This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.