| | 1 | Author: | Clemons
Harry
1879-1968 | Add | | | Title: | Notes on the Professors for Whom the University of Virginia Halls and Residence Houses are Named  | | | | Published: | 2003 | | | | Subjects: | University of Virginia Library, Modern English collection | UVA-LIB-Text | | | | Description: | Bonnycastle is an apt name for an habitation,
but its appropriateness for one of the
University's Residence Houses stems from
the surname of one of the original Professors,
Charles Bonnycastle. He was born in
England in 1792, the son of a distinguished
Professor of Mathematics at the Royal Military
Academy at Woolwich. Two of John
Bonnycastle's sons achieved notable careers
in the New World. The elder of the two,
Sir Richard Bonnycastle, was a military
engineer in Canada. The younger, Charles,
received his training at Woolwich, and he
was holding a government appointment
when Francis Walker Gilmer, Jefferson's
agent in England to secure a Faculty for
the University of Virginia, persuaded him
to cast his lot with the newly fledged institution.
The voyage to the United States,
which Bonnycastle made with Robley
Dunglison, who was to be Professor of
Medicine, and Thomas Hewitt Key, to be
Professor of Mathematics, was a hazardous
initiation. The ship "Competitor" in which
they sailed was "an old log", and the voyage
was stormy, requiring three and a half
months. In fact, because of the delay, the
first session of the University of Virginia
could not begin until 7 March 1825. | | | Similar Items: | Find |
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