Transcript 

of

Frederick Thomas Elworthy [Obituary]

Trans. Devon Assoc., vol.  XL, (1908), pp. 42-44.

by

Maxwell Adams (Ed.)

Prepared by Michael Steer

The obituary was read at the Association’s July 1908 Newton Abbot meeting. Mr Elworthy of Wellington in Somerset was a philologist and antiquary. A potted biography is provided by Wikipedia. Mr Elworthy was a member of the council of the Philological Society and the editor for Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society. He was elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1900. In 1887 he joined the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and by 1893 was a member of its General Committee. A similar biography to that of the Devonshire Association’s is recorded in The Dictionary of National Biography.  The obituary, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.

Frederick Thomas Elworthy. The Association has sustained a great loss by the death of Mr. Elworthy. He joined the Association in 1878, and at once became one of its leading members, contributing many valuable papers to its proceedings. In 1905 he accepted the office of President for the year 1906-7, but shortly before the meeting, in July, 1906, when he would have presented his Presidential Address to the members, he was struck down with the illness from which he never recovered. His address, however, had been prepared, and was read in his regrettable absence by Mr. Basil Thomson, the retiring President. It is printed in Vol. XXXVII of the Transactions. He was also for many years the Secretary of the Committee appointed by the Association for recording the existing use of Verbal Provincialisms in Devonshire, and the Reports of this Committee, which he edited, contain a mass of information on the dialect of Devon of the greatest interest and value.
He was also a member of the Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society, and for many years its Editorial Secretary. His contributions to the proceedings of that Society are numerous and valuable. But Mr. Elworthy is chiefly known for his works on dialect philology, in which branch of science, to quote Dr. James Murray, the editor of the New English Dictionary "he attained a renown far beyond his native county, and even beyond the confines of England; they are known to all philologists in Europe and America, and even formed the basis of a German doctoral dissertation. He was a member of the Council of the Philological Society, and when the English Dialect Society was formed became one of its leading supporters. His great work, The Dialect of West Somerset and East Devon, is a classic. He was also a zealous worker for the Philological Society's New English Dictionary, contributing over fifteen thousand quotations for that work. 
His studies, however, were not confined to archaeology and philology only. His travels in Italy, Spain, and other countries afforded him opportunities for the collection of materials for his two great works on Folk-lore - The Evil Eye, published in 1895, and Horns of Honour, and other Studies in the Byways of Archaeology, in 1900 - both of which attained an undoubted success, and led to much learned discussion.
His various papers contributed to the proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, the Folk-lore Society, the British Association, and of other learned bodies, are too numerous to detail; but it may be stated that on whatever subject he wrote, he evidenced a deep knowledge and a wide and careful research.
An active Churchman, and a member of several diocesan committees, he was frequently present at Ruridecanal Conferences. His address, given at one of these gatherings, on "Tithes: an Outline of their History and Development," was subsequently published in pamphlet form. The Church of All Saints, at Rockwell Green, which he founded principally for the poor of the parish, is evidence of his zeal as a Churchman, and of his generosity in Church matters.
Up to within a few years of his death Mr. Elworthy took an active part in the pubUc life of his native town. He was an energetic member of the Wellington School Board, of the Burial Board, and of the Board of Guardians. He was also a Justice of the Peace. Among local Free- masons he was a recognized leader.
Born at Wellington, 10 January, 1830, he married 17 August, 1854, Maria, daughter of James Kershaw, Esq., M.P., by whom he had three sons, who predeceased him, and two daughters, who, with his wife, survive. He died on 13 December, 1907, and was buried on the 18th of the same month, amid tokens of the great affection and respect in which he was held by relatives and friends, and by the Societies with which he was associated.