Page:Dictionary of National Biography, Second Supplement, volume 2.djvu/253

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Hearn
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Hearn

of Greek vacated by the death of Sir R. C. Jebb [q. v. Suppl. II]. His prelection on this occasion made a profound impression. On 20 June 1908 he died suddenly at an hotel in London. He was buried in the churchyard of Wycliffe, Yorkshire. During the last years of his short life his work had gained recognition from a rapidly growing circle, and he was deservedly looked upon as one of the leading Greek scholars of his time; but at the moment of his death the greater part of what he had published consisted of contributions to classical periodicals. For many years the plays of Æschylus formed the central subject of his studies, and he contemplated a full critical edition of them, towards which he had made large collections. One of his most important contributions to learning was a paper on 'Greek Lyric Metres' which appeared in the 'Journal of Hellenic Studies' in 1902. Headlam's writings possess distinction throughout, and give evidence of his fastidious taste and keen sensibility to all forms of beauty. Of his Greek versions of English and other poetry it was said that they are not surpassed, if indeed they are equalled, by any existing productions of the same kind. His English verse also is of high quality. His numerous emendations of Greek texts were founded upon a close study of the causes of textual corruption, coupled with an ahnost unrivalled sense of the genius of the Greek language.

During his lifetime he published: 1. 'Fifty Poems by Meleager, with a translation,' 1890. 2. 'On Editing Æschylus: a Criticism,' 1891. 3. 'The Plays of Æschylus translated from a Revised Text,' 1900–8; republished in a collected form in 1909 (in this volume the translations of the 'Persae' and 'Septem contra Thebas' are the work of his brother, C. E. S. Headlam). 4. 'A Book of Greek Verse,' 1907. 5. 'Restoration of Menander,' 1908. Posthumous publications: 1. 'The Agamemnon of Æschylus,' revised text and English translation, with some notes, 1910, edited by A. C. Pearson. 2. 'Letters and Poems,' with Memoir by his brother, Cecil Headlam, and a full bibliography by L. Haward, 1910.

[Personal knowledge; memoir and bibliography cited; Academy, 8 Oct. 1910, memoir (by Shane Leslie).]

M. R. J.


HEARN, MARY ANNE, 'Marianne Farningham' (1834–1909), hymn-writer, daughter of Joseph Hearn, village postmaster, was born at Farningham, Kent, on 17 Dec. 1834. Her kinsfolk were baptists of the rigid Calvinistic type. A teacher at Bristol (1862–7), at Gravesend (1867–9), and at Northampton (1859–66), she gave up school work in 1866 to devote herself entirely to literature. In 1867 she had joined the outside staff of the newly founded 'Christian World,' for which she wrote regularly till her death. To the 'Sunday School Times' she was first a contributor, and from 1885 editor. In later life she retired to Barmouth. A keen supporter of educational movements, and in request as a speaker at free church meetings, and as a lecturer, she died at Barmouth on 16 March 1909.

Adopting the pseudonym of 'Marianne Farningham,' a combination of her Christian names with the name of her birthplace, she published nearly forty volumes, most of them poems or papers collected from the 'Christian World' or from publications associated with it. The chief are: 1. 'Lays and Lyrics of the Blessed Life,' 1861. 2. 'Poems,' 1865. 3. 'Morning and Evening Hymns for the Week,' 1870. 4. 'Songs of Sunshine,' 1878. 6. 'A Working Woman's Life,' an autobiography, 1907. Three or four of her hymns passed into occasional use. The most popular, 'Watching and waiting for me,' is in Sankey's 'Songs and Solos.' Some of her dramatic poems, notably 'The Last Hymn,' 'A Goodbye at the Door,' 'A Blind Man's Story,' 'Jairus,' and 'Rebekah,' achieved a vogue as recitations.

[Autobiography, 1907; Christian World, 18 March 1909; Julian's Dict. of Hymnology.]

J. C. H.


HEATH, CHRISTOPHER (1835–1905), surgeon, born in London on 13 March 1835, was son, by Eliza Barclay his wife, of Christopher Heath [q. v.], minister of the Catholic Apostolic church in Gordon Square, London. Heath entered King's College School in May 1845, and after apprenticeship to Nathaniel Davidson of Charles Street, Manchester Square, began his medical studies at King's College, London, in October 1851. Here he gained the Leathes and Warneford prizes for general proficiency in medical subjects and divinity, and was admitted an associate in 1855. From 11 March to 25 Sept. 1855 he served as hospital dresser on board H.M. steam frigate Impérieuse in the Baltic fleet during the Crimean war, and for this service he was awarded a medal. He became M.R.C.S. England in 1856, and F.R.C.S. in 1860. He was appointed assistant demonstrator of anatomy at King's College, and served as