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William Hopkins
Times obituary
CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 15.
The announcement of the death of Mr. William Hopkins, M.A., F.R.S., Senior Esquire Bedell of this University, will be read with regret, not only by members of the University, but by men of science in general. The office which Mr. Hopkins filled in the University was one on which he conferred more dignity than it gave to him; but in an unofficial capacity, as a private tutor, few men have exercised so wide or so beneficial an influence on the studies of the place. Quitting the profession, utterly uncongenial to his tastes, to which he had been brought up, he entered the University comparatively late in life and graduated as seventh wrangler in 1827, in the same year as Professor De Morgan of University College. He soon became eminent as a private tutor and for about 30 years formed a large part of the elite of Cambridge mathematicians, the class to which he lectured, and he became known as the senior wrangler maker. Among his pupils were the present Vice-Chancellor, the Bishop of Worcester, the Master of Peterhouse, Canon Heaviside, Mr. Justice Blackburn, Archdeacon Pratt, Bishops Cotterill and Colenso, the late Bishop Mackenzie, the Dean of Ely, Professors Stokes, Kelland, W. Thomson, Tait, Fawcett, Dr. G. Budd, Mr. Main, Rateliff Observer; Mr. J. Todhunter, Dr. Barry, and many other distinguished names. The secret of his success as a teacher was the happy faculty he had of drawing out the thoughts of his pupils and making them instruct each other, while he took care that the subjects under discussion were treated in a philosophical manner, so that mere preparation for the Senate house examination was subordinate to a sound scientific training. He is perhaps better known to the public for his investigations into geology and the temperature of the earth, but he used to complain that he could not make mathematicians take an interest in his geology, or geologists understand his mathematics. He served in turn in the offices of President of the Geological Society and of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Not long since a prize was founded in his honour, the funds for which are held in trust by the Cambridge Philosophical Society, for the encouragement of mathematical and physical investigations. For some time past his health has failed, so that his duties have been performed by deputy. His memory will long be cherished by his pupils at Cambridge for the kindly manner and philosophical spirit with which he directed their studies, and the wholesome influence which the training of his classroom has exercised on their subsequent pursuits.
CAMBRIDGE, Oct. 15.
The announcement of the death of Mr. William Hopkins, M.A., F.R.S., Senior Esquire Bedell of this University, will be read with regret, not only by members of the University, but by men of science in general. The office which Mr. Hopkins filled in the University was one on which he conferred more dignity than it gave to him; but in an unofficial capacity, as a private tutor, few men have exercised so wide or so beneficial an influence on the studies of the place. Quitting the profession, utterly uncongenial to his tastes, to which he had been brought up, he entered the University comparatively late in life and graduated as seventh wrangler in 1827, in the same year as Professor De Morgan of University College. He soon became eminent as a private tutor and for about 30 years formed a large part of the elite of Cambridge mathematicians, the class to which he lectured, and he became known as the senior wrangler maker. Among his pupils were the present Vice-Chancellor, the Bishop of Worcester, the Master of Peterhouse, Canon Heaviside, Mr. Justice Blackburn, Archdeacon Pratt, Bishops Cotterill and Colenso, the late Bishop Mackenzie, the Dean of Ely, Professors Stokes, Kelland, W. Thomson, Tait, Fawcett, Dr. G. Budd, Mr. Main, Rateliff Observer; Mr. J. Todhunter, Dr. Barry, and many other distinguished names. The secret of his success as a teacher was the happy faculty he had of drawing out the thoughts of his pupils and making them instruct each other, while he took care that the subjects under discussion were treated in a philosophical manner, so that mere preparation for the Senate house examination was subordinate to a sound scientific training. He is perhaps better known to the public for his investigations into geology and the temperature of the earth, but he used to complain that he could not make mathematicians take an interest in his geology, or geologists understand his mathematics. He served in turn in the offices of President of the Geological Society and of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Not long since a prize was founded in his honour, the funds for which are held in trust by the Cambridge Philosophical Society, for the encouragement of mathematical and physical investigations. For some time past his health has failed, so that his duties have been performed by deputy. His memory will long be cherished by his pupils at Cambridge for the kindly manner and philosophical spirit with which he directed their studies, and the wholesome influence which the training of his classroom has exercised on their subsequent pursuits.
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