William Copeland Borlase

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
William Copeland Borlase about 1880
Etching of the district around the Merry Maidens
Etching of the Tregeseal stone circle

William Copeland Borlase (* 1848 in Penzance , † March 31, 1899 in London ) was an English archaeologist and Member of Parliament (MP) in the House of Commons .

life and work

Borlase came from an old Cornish family that their ancestry to the time of the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William I. could trace. The French ancestors were originally called Taillefer , but, as was customary at the time, called themselves Borlâs after the area in which they settled in Cornwall . His great-great-grandfather was the well-known naturalist William Borlase .

Borlase first attended school in Winchester and later studied at Trinity College , Oxford , where he completed a Master of Arts . As a young man, like his ancestor William Borlase, he was concerned with the prehistory and early history of the county of Cornwall and visited many of the prehistoric sites that the elder Borlase had described. These included the following megalithic systems :

In 1863 he supervised the excavations of the newly discovered prehistoric settlement Carn Euny and prepared an excavation report. The etchings shown there were created by John Thomas Blight . In 1870 Borlase had the stone grave of Carn Gluze uncovered . In the following years he published numerous works on early cultures in Cornwall and Ireland and became a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London .

In 1880 he was elected to the House of Commons as the Liberal Party candidate for the county of St Austell in Cornwall . In 1886 he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the Local Government Board. In the following period Borlase got into debt due to his money-intensive lifestyle. The disclosure of his debts by his Portuguese lover caused a scandal, after which his family disinherited him. Borlase died in London at the age of 50.

Publications

  • Naenia Cornubiae: a descriptive essay, illustrative of the sepulchres and funereal customs of the early inhabitants of the county of Cornwall. London 1872, ISBN 978-1897853368 .
  • Sunways: a record of rambles in many lauds. Plymouth 1878, ISBN 978-1176370807 .
  • The descent, name and arms of Borlase of Borlase in the county of Cornwall: with a chart pedigree and illustrations. London 1888, ISBN 978-1297038167 .
  • The Age of the Saints: a monograph of early Christianity in Cornwall with the legends of the Cornish saints and an introduction to illustrative of the ethnology of the district. 2 volumes, Truro 1893/1895, ISBN 978-1897853863 .
  • The Dolmens of Ireland, Their Distribution, Structural Characteristics, and Affinities in Other Countries: Together With the Folk-Lore Attaching to Them and Traditions of the Irish People. London 1897, ISBN 978-0543784445 ( online ).
  • Tin-mining in Spain past and present. London 1898, ISBN 978-1241528065 .

Web links

Commons : William Copeland Borlase  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 20, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.leighrayment.com
  2. ↑ http://west-penwith.org.uk/just3.htm
  3. ↑ http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/William-Copeland-Borlase
  4. ↑ http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/William-Copeland-Borlase
  5. ↑ http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/William-Copeland-Borlase
personal data
SURNAME Borlase, William Copeland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Borlase, toilet
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English antiquarian and member of parliament
DATE OF BIRTH 1848
PLACE OF BIRTH Penzance , Cornwall
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 1899
Place of death London