Derwent Coleridge (14 September 1800 – 28 March 1883), third son of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, was a distinguished English scholar and author. Early life Derwent Coleridge was born at Keswick, Cumberland, 14 September 1800 (Derwent Water is not far away). He was sent with his brother Hartley to be educated at a small school near Ambleside. The two brothers were in those days in continual intercourse with Southey and Wordsworth. Derwent was sent to St. John's College, Cambridge, where he formed intimate lifelong friendships with W. M. Praed, Macaulay, John Moultrie, Sidney Walker, Charles Austin, and Bulwer. In the autumn of 1822, he joined them as a contributor to Knight's Quarterly Magazine. His contributions, signed "DAVENANT CECIL", were mostly poetical. He proceeded B.A. 1824, and M.A. 1829. After becoming estranged from his father, he moved to Plymouth, where he became a teacher. He became involved in the intellectual life of the town, joining The Plymouth Institution (now The Plymouth Athenaeum) as a lecturing member. In 1826, he was ordained by William Carey, Bishop of Exeter; soon afterwards, he was appointed master of the grammar school at Helston, Cornwall. One of his most distinguished pupils there was Charles Kingsley. While at Helston, he published his largest work, The Scriptural Character of the English Church (1839). He agreed with the conclusions which Gladstone supported in Church Principles considered in their Results, published the following year, although Gladstone wrote as a pronounced high churchman, while Coleridge aimed at setting forth the views of his father on church and state. The avowal that he wished to be regarded as his father's disciple induced F. D. Maurice to dedicate to him his Kingdom of Christ. Coleridge's book, though eloquent, missed popularity, perhaps on account of its impartiality. Chelsea In 1841, he was appointed first principal of St. Mark's College, Chelsea, just established by the National Society. He held that post until 1864, and undoubtedly did much to shape the course of elementary education in England. He was a strong advocate of Latin in mental training, placing it altogether above mathematics or physical science. The study of languages was always a passion with him. Arthur Penrhyn Stanley once declared him the most accomplished linguist in England. He could read Cervantes and Alfieri as easily as Racine and Schiller, and was well acquainted with Hungarian and Welsh poetry; of the latter he was intensely fond. He could