Richard Stephen Charnock (1820–1905[1]) was a British topographer, lawyer, and antiquary (Ph.D., FSA, FRGS, FRSSA, FRSNA).[2][3] He published several works on etymology, onomastics, and dialect. He was a reader for the Oxford English Dictionary, credited with 1,200 quotations.[1]
For many years he was a contributor to Notes and Queries.[4]
The Dictionary of National Biography remarks "In 1845 he [George Meredith] was articled to Richard Stephen Charnock of 10 Godliman Street, lawyer and antiquary, who is thought to have combined certain of the traits of the two uncles in Richard Feverel. Charnock was a Bohemian and a 'character' who, in 1847–8, when he became accessible to Meredith, was one of the 'old boys' of the Arundel Club."[5]
Books
- Guide to the Tyrol: Comprising Pedestrian Tours Made in Tyrol, Styria, Carinthia, and Salzkammergut, during the Summers of 1852 and 1853 together with a Skeleton Map of the Country (1857)
- Local Etymology: A Derivative Dictionary of Geographical Names (1859)
- Memoir of the Charnock Family (1861)
- Bradshaw's Illustrated Hand-Book to Spain and Portugal: A Complete Guide for Travellers in the Peninsula, with Maps, Town Plans, and Steel Illustrations (1865)
- Verba Nominalia; or, Words Derived from Proper Names (1866)
- Ludus Patronymicus; or, the Etymology of Curious Surnames (1868)
- On Ancient Manorial Customs, Tenures, Services, Privileges, Serjeanties, Grants, Fines, etc., in the County of Essex (1870)
- Patronymica Cornu-Britannica; or, The etymology of Cornish surnames (1870)
- The Peoples of Transylvania (1870)
- Anthropologia; in which are Included the Proceedings of the London Anthropological Society (1874)
- A Glossary of the Essex Dialect (1880)
- On the Etymology of Beccles (1880)
- Prænomina; or, The Etymology of the Principal Christian Names of Great Britain and Ireland (1882)
- Nuces Etymologicaæ (1889)
References
- ^ a b Biographical information on individuals connected with the First Edition of the OED and the 1933 Supplement
- ^ Patronymica Cornu-Britannica: Or, the Etymology of Cornish Surnames, modern reprint(2023) book cover
- ^ Patronymica Cornu-Britannica, Or, The Etymology of Cornish Surnames, 1870 last pages
- ^ s:Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/274
- ^ s:Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Meredith, George
