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21-663: Agnata Frances Butler (née Ramsay ; 28 January 1867 – 27 May 1931) was a British classics scholar. She was among the first generation of women to take the Classical Tripos examinations at the University of Cambridge , and was the only person to be placed in the top division of the first class at the end of her third year, in 1887. She married the Master of Trinity College , Henry Montagu Butler , in August 1888, becoming

42-517: A Pontin's hotel since they left the Tennyson family's ownership in the 1940s. Martin Beisly and business partner Rebecca FitzGerald bought the hotel in 2007. They closed the hotel in 2009, and reopened it 2017 as a historic house/museum following renovation. Guided tours are available to book April to October. Group visits, writers' retreats, creative workshops, concerts and exhibitions are part of

63-600: A careless-ordered garden, Close to the ridge of a noble down.” Tennyson rented Farringford in 1853, and then bought it in 1856. He found that there were too many starstruck tourists who pestered him in Farringford, so he moved to "Aldworth", a stately home on a hill known as Blackdown in Lurgashall , about 2 km south of Haslemere in West Sussex in 1869. However, he returned to Farringford to spend

84-483: A cartoon in Punch which was entitled 'Honour to Agnata Frances Ramsay' and showed her boarding a train's first-class compartment marked 'For Ladies Only'. Farringford House Farringford House , in the village of Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight , was the home of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson , from 1853 until his death in 1892. The main house dates from 1806 with gothic embellishments and extensions added from

105-561: A great city have been built on a little ridge like that (meaning Hissarlik )? Where would have been the room for Priam 's fifty sons and fifty daughters?' Another famous classicist was A. E. Housman who wrote in 1911 to thank her after a visit, Dear Mrs Butler, I have been solacing my journey home with your son's excellent verses which the Master was good enough to give me. Oxford men, following Dryden , sometimes refer to Cambridge as Thebes . Trinity Lodge, at any rate, seems to me

126-691: A happy combination of Athens and Sybaris . I am yours sincerely A. E. Housman A prize for the best classics students in their second or third year was established and awarded by the Butlers – the Agnata Butler Prize . Winners included Caroline Skeel (1893/4), Dorothy Tarrant (1907) and Barbara Wootton (1917). Classical Tripos Classics at Cambridge consists of language ( Greek and Latin ), classical literature , ancient history , classical art and archaeology , classical philosophy , and linguistics . Taken by those doing

147-478: A version of Book VII ( Polymnia ) of Herodotus' Histories . It was published in the original Ancient Greek with notes in 1891, as part of Macmillan 's Classical series for colleges and schools. She may have been the first British woman to produce an edition of a classical author. In 2006, Mary Beard wrote that "Agnata Ramsey was one of the most notorious casualties of the university marriage market", as she "did very little classics ever after". Her husband

168-437: Is wider, and they choose two out of History, Art and Archaeology, Philosophy and Linguistics. Part II gives the widest choice. It is possible to completely focus on one subject, or to choose a broad range of subjects. Candidates take four papers, although one of these papers may be substituted by a 10,000-word thesis . The classical tripos was created in 1822 for students who had high honours in mathematics or those who were

189-436: The 1830s. Of particular historical importance is the second library built by his wife Emily Tennyson in 1871 with a play room below connected by a turreted winding staircase. The grounds are laid to lawn, rose borders and informal planting. Evidence remains of Tennyson's planting schemes together with a section of the walled garden and wooden footpaths. The house and grounds have undergone a programme of restoration having been

210-410: The classics but he later wrote that it was her "goodness ... not her Greek and Latin, which have stolen my heart". Even so, he allowed that, on their honeymoon, they "read a great deal of Greek together". They had three sons, James , Gordon, and Nevile . Their first child was born while she was working on her edition of Herodotus , which prompted Punch to run another punning cartoon, in which she

231-408: The course is taken up with developing language skills, both centred on the set texts and in unseen translation, students are also expected to study literature, philosophy, history, linguistics and philology, and art and archaeology. There is a wider choice in the second year and undergraduates narrow down their field of study. Whilst they have to study Language and Literature, the choice of Literature

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252-416: The estate. The houses at the end of Queens Road, the junction near the farm used to be stables where Fred Pontin 's horses were kept. Southern Vectis' Needles Breezer open top bus has a stop outside Farringford and this is the only bus that goes down Bedbury Lane towards Alum Bay. Tennyson wrote of Farringford: “Where, far from noise and smoke of town I watch the twilight falling brown, All round

273-498: The first class in the Classical Tripos examinations – thereby being placed above all of the men in her year – was marked with a cartoon in Punch which was entitled 'Honour to Agnata Frances Ramsay' and showed her boarding a train's first-class compartment marked 'For Ladies Only'. While a student, she worked hard at her studies but also found time for outdoor pursuits which she enjoyed, including tennis and skating. She

294-602: The four-year course, this is an introduction to Latin, with Greek being taken up in Part IA. During the first year, undergraduates take subjects to gain a general idea of the ancient world and to discover which area is most appealing to them. Much of the work is language based; written texts are a major source of evidence for classical antiquity and so there is an emphasis in Part I on developing fluent, accurate reading skills in both Greek and Latin. Although roughly three-quarters of

315-529: The leading hostess in Cambridge. She published a version of Book VII of Herodotus' Histories in 1891. She was born Agnata Ramsay in London on 28 January 1867, the daughter of Sir James Ramsay, 10th Baronet , of Bamff, and his wife Mary Elizabeth Charlotte, née Scott-Kerr. She came from a family with a history of academic achievement as her father published books on history, her uncle George Gilbert Ramsay

336-540: The offering. On the estate there are ten self-catering cottages which are available all year round, there is also a tennis court and children's play area. The estate is located on Bedbury Lane, Freshwater Bay, on the south shore of the Isle of Wight, near its western point. Some of the surrounding houses, particularly those in Middleton at the start of Moons Hill are connected with Farringford's history, once forming part of

357-406: The sons of peers . This restriction ended around 1850. Women were first allowed to sit the examination at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1887, Agnata Butler ( née Ramsay), a student at Girton College , was the only candidate to be placed in the top division of the first class in Classical Tripos examinations – thereby being placed above all of the men in her year. It was marked with

378-584: Was a professor of humanity at Glasgow University and her grandfather, Sir George Ramsay, published works on philosophy. Brought up in Perthshire , she attended St Leonards School in St Andrews . In 1884, she went as the Misses Metcalfes' Scholar to Girton College, Cambridge , where she read Classics . Her achievement in being the only candidate in 1887 to be placed in the top division of

399-541: Was friends with the poet laureate , Alfred, Lord Tennyson and, in 1892, the couple visited his home of Farringford House , where she and Tennyson discussed classical works such as the Alcaics of Horace and Sappho . She recalled his scepticism about the recent discovery of Troy , Then we spoke of Schliemann , of whom I had just been reading in Schuchhardt 's book, and he said he had no faith in him. 'How could

420-646: Was portrayed as ordering 'a crib for Herodotus'. James became an academic, and was Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University; Gordon was killed in action in Egypt in 1916; Nevile became a diplomat, serving as British Ambassador to Brazil and to the Netherlands. After the death of her husband in 1918, she remained in Cambridge, where she was involved in the local Christian Science church. She died in Harrow on 27 May 1931. At Cambridge, she worked on

441-564: Was president of the debating society and, while she did not speak often, she impressed others with her eloquence and humility. In August 1888, she married the Master of Trinity , Henry Montagu Butler . She was aged 21, and he was 55. They had met at the Cambridge Greek Play , a performance of Oedipus Rex in November 1887 for which Butler had arranged a large party of 42. He had included Agnata because of her prowess in

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