User:Ikeshut2/sandbox6
William Leonard Courtney | |
|---|---|
 W. L. Courtney (photographed in about 1922). | |
| Born | William Leonard Courtney 5 January 1850 |
| Died | 1 November 1928 (aged 78) London |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, philosopher, journalist, editor |
| Spouse(s) | (1) Cordelia Blanche Place (2) Janet Elizabeth Hogarth |
William Leonard Courtney (5 January 1850 – 1 November 1928) was an English writer, philosopher and journalist whose 38-year career encompassed work on the Daily Telegraph and Fortnightly Review.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]William Leonard Courtney was born on 5 January 1850 at Poona, India, the son of William Courtney, of the Indian Civil Service, and Ann Edwards (née Scott). He was the youngest of six children, having two brothers and three sisters.[1]
William was educated at the Somersetshire College at Bath.[2] The prestigious Somersetshire College was located at The Circus, a circle of townhouses in Bath, and had been founded in 1858 when a private home was converted to school rooms and offices.[3] The school's stated aim was to provide for gentlemen's sons "a course of education similar to that of our best public schools, with more attention to individual boys than their larger numbers render possible".[4]
Academia
[edit]In 1868 Courtney was admitted as a scholar to University College, Oxford University. After a successful undergraduate career in which he achieved a first-class grade in the classics course Literae Humaniores, Courtney was elected to a fellowship at Oxford's Merton College. However Courtney wished to marry and all four tutorial fellowships allowed for married men at Merton were already filled. During 1873 the position of headmaster at his old school, Somersetshire College, became vacant and Courtney's academic successes induced the governors to offer him the position. He accepted the offer, resigned his fellowship and left Oxford for Bath.[5][6]
On 14 July 1874 Courtney married Cordelia Blanche Place in Cheshire. The couple had seven children, born between 1875 and 1888.[7] Courtney remained as headmaster of Somersetshire College at Bath until 1876.[2] His period as a private school headmaster was not a success. The older staff-members resented his youthfulness and his plan to increase pupil numbers by accepting the sons of local tradesmen was opposed by the school governors and parents of the existing students.[5][6]
In 1877 Courtney was offered a tutorial fellowship, that could be held by a married man, at Oxford University's New College. He gratefully accepted and at the age of twenty-seven returned to Oxford to teach moral philosophy for the Literae Humaniores course.[5] The terms of his appointment stipulated that after a specified period of service he had the option of retiring but nevertheless retaining the rights and emoluments of a fellow of New College.[6] William and Cordelia Courtney and their growing family made their home in Park Town, in North Oxford.[6]
Courtney soon "made his mark as a teacher", delivering lectures on Plato and the English philosophers.[2] He wrote three books during his Oxford years: The Metaphysics of John Stuart Mill (1879), Studies in Philosophy: Ancient and Modern (1882), and Constructive Ethics (1886). Courtney's book Constructive Ethics, written in 1886, was a historical and critical treatise on ethics which "attained considerable popularity" amongst students in the Literae Humaniores course.[6]
In 1882 the professorial chair of Moral Philosophy became vacant with the death of Thomas Hill Green at the age of forty-five. Green had been Courtney's mentor in philosophy and he and William Wallace (of Merton College) vied for the vacant position. Both men were followers of Green's neo-Hegelianism. Wallace was older than Courtney and had been a successful college tutor for fifteen years, but Courtney had already published two books in his short academic career as opposed to Wallace's more modest publishing record. When Wallace was appointed to the professorship, Courtney reacted by becoming a candidate for the headmastership of Dulwich College, but was unsuccessful and opted to remain at Oxford.[5]
With Benjamin Jowett he helped with the foundation of the New Theatre.[2] Oxford University Dramatic Society
In 1889 there were two professorial elections for the two remaining chairs in Courtney's field. The first to become vacant was the Professorship of Logic, with John Cook Wilson and Thomas Case each competing against Courtney for the position, culminating with Wilson being elected. Later in 1889 the Professorship of Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy became available, but Courtney was again unsuccessful, with Case being elected to the position.[5]
In January 1890 a short play written by Courtney called Kit Marlowe's Death was published in the journal The Universal Review.[8] The play was performed at St James's Theatre in London with Arthur Bourchier in the lead role.[9][10]
Journalism
[edit]
In 1890 Courtney joined the Daily Telegraph, beginning a 38 year career on Fleet Street, writing general articles as well as drama and literary criticism. From 1894 he became editor of the Fortnightly Review.[11] Books during this time included The Feminine Note in Fiction (1904). His plays were not commercially successful.[1][6]
Personal life
[edit]Cordelia died in 1907. In 1911, William married Janet Elizabeth Hogarth (Janet E. Courtney).[2] Janet (27 November 1865 - 24 September 1954), who was born in Barton-on-Humber, was a scholar, writer, and early feminist. A grandson, through his son Geoffrey Stuart Courtney, a diplomat and soldier, was the actor Nicholas Courtney.[12]
Courtney's autobiography The Passing Hour was published in 1925.
After his death his biography, The Making of an Editor: W. L. Courtney 1850-1928, written by his wife, was published.
Works
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References
[edit]- ^ a b Matheson, PE. 'Courtney, William Leonard', in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ a b c d e 'Mr. W. L. Courtney: Editor and Critic', The Times (London), 2 November 1928, page 19.
- ^ Melanie Backe-Hansen (2015), Somersetshire College: A Prime Minister, Jane Austen, and Alexander Graham Bell, House Historian website; accessed 26 July 2024.
- ^ Thomas Hughes (1879), 'The Public Schools of England: Part II', The North American Review, 1 July 1879 (Vol. 129), page 47.
- ^ a b c d e A. J. Engel (1984), From Clergyman to Don: The Rise of the Academic Profession in Nineteenth-century Oxford, Oxford: Clarendon Press, pages 250-254.
- ^ a b c d e f Sir John Marriott (1928), 'W. L. Courtney: In Memoriam', The Fortnightly Review, 1 December 1928, pages 721-729; accessed 26 July 2024.
- ^ Family records, Ancestry.com.
- ^ 'Kit Marlowe's Death' by W. L. Courtney, The Universal Review, January-April 1890 (Vol. 6), pages 356-371.
- ^ 'Notes and News', The Musical World, 5 April 1890, Vol. 70 Issue 14, page 272.
- ^ Notable Londoners, an Illustrated Who's Who of Professional and Business Men (1922), London: London Publishing Agency, page 27; accessed 20 July 2024.
- ^ Janet Elizabeth Hogarth Courtney (1930), The Making of an Editor: W. L. Courtney, 1850–1928, United Kingdom: Macmillan & Company Ltd.
- ^ "Nicholas Courtney". 23 February 2011.
External links
[edit]- Works by Ikeshut2/sandbox6 at Project Gutenberg
- Error in Template:Internet Archive author: Ikeshut2/sandbox6 doesn't exist.
- W. L. Courtney at Library of Congress, with 20 library catalogue records
- William Leonard Courtney papers , Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester