Charles Wycliffe Goodwin
Encyclopedia
Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (1817–1878) was a British Egyptologist, lawyer
and judge.
Goodwin was born in 1817. He studied at St Catherine's and graduated, in 1838, 6th Classic and senior optime in Mathematics. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1843 and in 1865 became assistant judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
.
He had many interests besides law. He contributed to the publications of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society and in 1860 wrote one of the articles in Essays and Reviews
, to which he was the only lay contributor, writing alongside such great theologians as Rowland Williams and Henry Bristow Wilson
.
In a speech, "The Growth and Nature of Egyptology: an inaugural lecture" by Stephen Ranulph Kingdon Glanville (published by Cambridge University Press), Glanville said of Goodwin:
"By the time Goodwin left Cambridge, he was a first class Greek scholar, an accomplished Hebraist, and an authority on Anglo-Saxon with valuable editions of new texts to his credit. He also had a considerably knowledge of natural history, especially geology. In London, where his practice was not large, he wrote music and art criticism; was for a time editor of Literary Gazette; was the only layman among the seven contributors to the much talked of Essays and Reviews (1860); and, because of his Greek and Hebrew scholarship, was frequently consulted by the Revisers of the New Testament. But throughout his life, his main interest, begun when he was at school was in the elucidation of Ancient Egyptian and Coptic texts, more especially those Egyptian texts written in the cursive script called hieratic.
In London, he spent much of his time in the British Museum
, copying papyri. He was in close touch with Samuel Birch
, then Keeper of the Oriental Department and was constantly exchanging information by correspondence with other leading Egyptologists of his day."
Goodwin was appointed assistant judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
in 1865 on the founding of the court. Edmund Hornby was appointed Judge. Goodwin became Acting Chief Judge in 1876 after Edmund Hornby retired. He died in Shanghai
in 1878. The British Supreme Court for China and Japan
exercised jurisdiction over British Subjects in China and Japan pursuant to extraterritorial rights granted under treaties with China and Japan. The Court was also an appeal court from British Consular Courts in China and Japan.
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and judge.
Goodwin was born in 1817. He studied at St Catherine's and graduated, in 1838, 6th Classic and senior optime in Mathematics. He was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn in 1843 and in 1865 became assistant judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
British Supreme Court for China and Japan
The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in...
.
He had many interests besides law. He contributed to the publications of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society and in 1860 wrote one of the articles in Essays and Reviews
Essays and Reviews
Essays and Reviews, published in March 1860, is a broad-church volume of seven essays on Christianity. The topics covered the biblical research of the German critics, the evidence for Christianity, religious thought in England, and the cosmology of Genesis....
, to which he was the only lay contributor, writing alongside such great theologians as Rowland Williams and Henry Bristow Wilson
Henry Bristow Wilson
Henry Bristow Wilson was a theologian and a fellow of St John's College, Oxford.-Life:Born on 10 June 1803, he was elder son of Harry Bristow Wilson, by his wife Mary Anne, daughter of John Moore. He entered Merchant Taylors' School in October 1809, and was elected to St John's College, Oxford, in...
.
In a speech, "The Growth and Nature of Egyptology: an inaugural lecture" by Stephen Ranulph Kingdon Glanville (published by Cambridge University Press), Glanville said of Goodwin:
"By the time Goodwin left Cambridge, he was a first class Greek scholar, an accomplished Hebraist, and an authority on Anglo-Saxon with valuable editions of new texts to his credit. He also had a considerably knowledge of natural history, especially geology. In London, where his practice was not large, he wrote music and art criticism; was for a time editor of Literary Gazette; was the only layman among the seven contributors to the much talked of Essays and Reviews (1860); and, because of his Greek and Hebrew scholarship, was frequently consulted by the Revisers of the New Testament. But throughout his life, his main interest, begun when he was at school was in the elucidation of Ancient Egyptian and Coptic texts, more especially those Egyptian texts written in the cursive script called hieratic.
In London, he spent much of his time in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, copying papyri. He was in close touch with Samuel Birch
Samuel Birch
Samuel Birch was a British Egyptologist and antiquary.-Biography:Birch was the son of a rector at St Mary Woolnoth, London. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School. From an early age, his manifest tendency to the study of out-of-the-way subjects well suited his later interest in archaeology...
, then Keeper of the Oriental Department and was constantly exchanging information by correspondence with other leading Egyptologists of his day."
Goodwin was appointed assistant judge of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan
British Supreme Court for China and Japan
The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in...
in 1865 on the founding of the court. Edmund Hornby was appointed Judge. Goodwin became Acting Chief Judge in 1876 after Edmund Hornby retired. He died in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
in 1878. The British Supreme Court for China and Japan
British Supreme Court for China and Japan
The British Supreme Court for China and Japan was a court established in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1865 to try cases against British subjects in China and Japan, and from 1883, Korea, under the principles of Extraterritoriality. The court also heard appeals from consular courts in...
exercised jurisdiction over British Subjects in China and Japan pursuant to extraterritorial rights granted under treaties with China and Japan. The Court was also an appeal court from British Consular Courts in China and Japan.
Works
- Ed. and tr. The Anglo-Saxon Version of the Life of St. Guthlac, Hermit of Crowland. London, 1848. Edition of the Old English adaptation of Felix's Latin Life of St Guthlac. PDF downloads available from Google Books and Internet Archive
- Ed. and tr. Anglo-Saxon Legends of St Andrew and St Veronica. Cambridge Antiquarian Society. Cambridge, 1851. Editions of Old English prose lives of St Andrew (Blickling Homily 19) and St Veronica (Vindicta Salvatoris). Available from Google Books here (Harvard scan) and here (Oxford scan).