Cecil Torr
Cecil Torr (11 October 1857, Mitcham, London – 17 December 1928) was a British antiquarian, barrister, and author.[1][2][3]
Early life
[edit]Torr was the son of John Smale Torr,[4] a solicitor and Director of the Solicitors' and General Life Assurance Society,[5] by his second wife Augusta Elizabeth King. He had a half-sister, Martha, and half-brother, Henry, both born to his father's first wife (and cousin), Maria, who had died after childbirth.[6]
Cecil was educated at Harrow School,[7] and later matriculated from Trinity College, Cambridge on 7 June 1876, graduating there B.A. 1880 and M.A. 1883.[1]
He was admitted in 1879 at the Inner Temple and was called to the Bar on 12 June 1882.[7][4]
Works
[edit]Torr inherited the family property of the Wreyland estate in Lustleigh, Dartmoor where his grandfather had lived and Torr often stayed at as a child,[8] and took up a life of a country squire.[7] The estate included Yonder Wreyland, where he lived, as well as the Hall House, Souther Wreyland, Bow Cottage, Barn House and a number of further buildings and grounds.[9]
Torr travelled widely, including to Moscow, Damascus, Granada and Sparta, and collected over twenty artefacts now on display at The British Museum.[2]
He was a councillor for the Newton Abbot Rural District Council.[10]
He is noted for writing Small Talk at Wreyland (3 vols., 1918–1923); the first volume was originally published privately for himself and friends,[8] but was an unexpected commercial success.[11] His 1894 book Ancient Ships deals with the structure of ships that sailed the Mediterranean in 1000 B.C. – 1000 A.D.[12]
In 1905, Torr revived the tradition of Lustleigh May Day in the village, which continues to be held annually, with maypole dancing, morris dancing, and the attractions of a traditional English fete.[13][14] He also donated a maypole to the nearby town of Bovey Tracey for their use.[15]
Selected publications
[edit]- Rhodes in Ancient Times. Cambridge University Press. 1885.
- Rhodes in Modern Times. Cambridge University Press. 1887.
- Ancient Ships. Cambridge University Press. 1894. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- Interpretation of Greek music. 1896.
- Memphis and Mycenae: an examination of Egyptian chronology and its application to the early history of Greece. Cambridge University Press. 1896.
- On portraits of Christ in the British museum. 1898.
- Small Talk at Wreyland. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press. 1918.[16]
- Small Talk at Wreyland. Vol. II. Cambridge University Press. 1921.[17]
- Hannibal crosses the Alps. Cambridge University Press. 1924.
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Torr, Cecil (TR876C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- 1 2 "Cecil Torr". The British Museum. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
- ↑ "I0016 – Small Talk of Wreyland – Cecil Torr". Plymouth Proprietary Library.
- 1 2 Foster, Joseph (1885). Men-at-The-Bar: A biographical hand-list. Hazell, Watson and Viney Limited, London & Aylesbury. p. 469.
- ↑ "Solicitors' and General Life Assurance Society". Daily News. 30 May 1861. p. 3.
- ↑ "Love Letters of Devonians - Century-old Idyll Retold". The Western Morning News and Daily Gazette. 13 November 1933. p. 4.
- 1 2 3 "Death of Devon Author at Lustleigh". Western Morning News. 21 December 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 15 May 2023.
- 1 2 Parker, Derek (1 December 2005). "Better 'an Heaven". Slightly Foxed: The Real Reader’s Quarterly (8).
- ↑ "Wreyland Estate, Lustleigh, Under the hammer". Western Times. 2 September 1932.
- ↑ "Lustleigh Roads". Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. 16 October 1925. p. 7.
- ↑ McKitterick, David, ed. (1992). A History of Cambridge University Press. Vol. 3, New Worlds for Learning, 1873–1972. p. 260.
- ↑ "Fine Arts". The Athenaeum (3492): 426. 29 September 1894.
- ↑ "Lustleigh May Day - A History". The Lustleigh Society.
- ↑ Groom, Nick (2013). The seasons:an elegy for the passing of the year.
- ↑ "Bovey Tracey". Western Morning News. 22 March 1911.
- ↑ "Reviews". The Athenaeum. No. 4633. September 1918. pp. 393–394.
- ↑ "More Small Talk at Wreyland". The Spectator. Vol. 127. 26 November 1921. pp. 707–708.
