George Darnell

George Darnell (1 January 1799 - 26 February 1857) was a schoolmaster whose educational writings were widely read, with Darnell's Copybooks becoming a household name. [1]

Biography

Grave of George Darnell in Highgate Cemetery

Darnell was born on 1 December 1799 at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, the eldest son of John Darnell (Miller) and his wife Mary, formerly Mary Holloway.[2] [3]

After running a preparatory school at Market Harborough[citation needed] he came to London and established, and conducted for many years, a large classical day school in Islington.[4] Though physically weak he was a shrewd and caring man whose publications aimed to make preparatory schooling less daunting for pupils.[1]

His series of Copybooks were widely used for many years in elementary schools, and Darnell's Copybooks became a household name from their introduction in the 1840s. The books were widely imitated, but he was the first to introduce the concept of giving a line of copy in pale ink, to be first written over by the pupil, then to be copied in the next blank line.[1]

His educational writings included A Short and Certain Road to Reading (1845), Grammar Made Intelligible to Children (1846), and Arithmetic Made Intelligible to Children (1855),[5] which for many years had an enormous sale. The prefaces to these short works contained innovative practical suggestions for teachers, which came to be widely adopted.[1]

Darnell, who was unmarried, died at his home, 70 Gibson Square, Islington, on 26 February 1857, aged fifty-eight,[1] and was buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery. The epitaph on his grave reads:

In memory of George Darnell; For thirty years principal of the Theberton School, Islington; A most skilful and loving instructor of the young; A zealous friend to the cause of popular education; Author of several works designed to render easy the beginning of knowledge; His earthly life, marked by active goodwill towards men, by generosity and self-sacrifice ended serenely on the 26th day of February 1857 in the 59th year of his age. Reader, so live; that - by God's grace - so thou mayst die.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Darnell, George". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  2. ^ Market Harborough Parish Baptisms 1799
  3. ^ Leicestershire Chronicle 7 March 1857
  4. ^ Willats, Eric A. (1987). Streets with a Story: Islington. ISBN 0-9511871-04.
  5. ^ Darnell, George (1855). Arithmetic made Intelligible to Children. London: Grant and Griffith. p. 1855. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  6. ^ Cansick, Frederick Teague (1872). The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol 2. J Russell Smith. p. 165. Retrieved 23 February 2022.