Walter Headlam
British classical scholar and poet (1866–1908)
Walter George Headlam (15 February 1866 – 20 June 1908) was a British classical scholar and poet, perhaps best remembered for his work on the Mimes of Herodas. He was described as "one of the leading Greek scholars of his time."
Early years
Headlam was born at 24 Norfolk Square, Hyde Park, London in 1866, the second son of Edward Headlam (1824–1882), a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge, a barrister and the Director of Examinations in the Civil Service Commission, and his wife, Mary Anne Johnson Headlam (née Sowerby) (1837–1888). His father was the fifth of seven sons of Rev. John Headlam, and Thomas Emerson Headlam was one of his uncles. Through his mother, he was descended from the classical scholar Richard Bentley, Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
He attended Elstree School in Hertfordshire and Harrow School, where the headmaster was Dr H. M. Butler, later Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. On leaving Harrow Headlam studied at King's College, Cambridge from 1884 to 1887 where he gained a First in the Classical Tripos, as well as receiving a number of other academic awards including seven Browne medals for Greek and Latin odes and epigrams and the Porson Prize. At Cambridge he became a member of a small society of friends known as the Twice a Fortnight Club, often abbreviated to TAF; this was made up of students from King's College and Trinity College who would meet every Sunday evening for supper. Fellow members included James Kenneth Stephen, Stanley Mordaunt Leathes, M. R. James and Henry Babington Smith. King's College appointed him a fellow in 1890 after which he took up a teaching post within the college.
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Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q15072602. VIAF identifies the subject as 2688565. The Library of Congress control number is n86141147. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1866, 1908, 1824 and 1882.
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This entry incorporates text from “Walter Headlam” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.