HARTLAND, EDWIN SIDNEY (1848 - 1927), one of the founders of the modern science of folklore
Date of birth: 1848
Date of death: 1927
Spouse: Mary Elizabeth Hartland (née Morgan)
Parent: Edwin Joseph Hartland
Parent: Anne Corden Hartland (née Hulls)
Gender: Male
Occupation: one of the founders of the modern science of folklore
Area of activity: History and Culture; Literature and Writing; Scholarship and Languages
Author: Henry John Randall
Born at Islington, son of Edwin Joseph Hartland, a Congregational minister, and his wife Anne (née Corden Hulls). No particulars of his education are recorded. On 13 August 1873, he married Mary Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Morgan Rice Morgan, vicar of Llansamlet, Glamorganshire.
Hartland came from Bristol to Swansea, and practised as a solicitor there from 1871 to 1890; in the latter year he was appointed county court and district registrar at Gloucester, subsequently becoming district probate registrar as well. Both at Swansea and at Gloucester he took a prominent part in local government, especially in matters of education. He was mayor of Gloucester in 1902.
The whole of his leisure was devoted to the study of anthropology and folklore, and he was a prominent member of the company of ardent spirits, who founded a science that had then not yet been professionalized. The record of his publications is referred to below; but among his more important works were: The Science of Fairy Tales, 1891; The Legend of Perseus, 3 vols., 1892-6; Primitive Paternity, 2 vols., 1910; Primitive Society, 1921; and Primitive Law, 1924. He was a constant attendant at congresses and meetings connected with his subject, received honorary degrees from the universities of S. Andrews and Wales (D.Litt., 1924), was president of the Folklore Society in 1899, delivered the first Fraser lecture in Oxford in 1922, and was awarded the Huxley medal in 1923. He died after a long illness on 19 June 1927, and left a widow, a son, and two daughters. His library and manuscripts were acquired by the National Library of Wales after his death.
Author
- Henry John Randall, (1877 - 1964)
- Folklore. What is it, and what is the good of it (1899), xxxvii, 178, with bibliography (by A. C. Haddon), xxxviii, 88 (by R. R. Marett)
- NLW Archives: NLW MSS 5923-9, NLW MSS 6798-6848, NLW MS 7539C
- personal recollection
Sources
- Wikipedia Article: Edwin Sidney Hartland
Further Reading
Published date: 1959
Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/
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