Martin Farquhar Tupper

Martin was the eldest son of Dr. Martin Tupper, a highly esteemed medic who came from an old Huguenot family. In his biography Tupper states that his father twice refused a Baronetcy. His mother was Ellin Devis Marris and she was was an excellent pianiste and a fair landscape painter both in oils and water-colour
He began his education at home but at the age of 7 was sent to a boarding school run by a parson whom he hated. The following year he transferred to a better school (Eagle House, Brookgreen) and then to Charterhouse at the age of 11 before going up to University at Christ Church, Oxford where he obtained his BA in 1832 and his MA in 1835. It was at Christ Church that he made the acquaintance of such notables as the Marquess of Dalhousie, the Earl of Elgin, William Gladstone and Francis Hastings Doyle.
Following his MA Tupper became a law student in chambers in Lincoln’s Inn, London and was called to the bar in the same year, 1835. This is rather unusual since he had a distinct speech problem and in fact he never actually practiced as a lwayer.
Also in 1835 he married Isabella Davis and started upon a literary career supplementing his income with articles for the periodicals of the day whilst writing a volume of poetry (Sacra Poesis) and, in 1837, the first in a series of Philosophical monographs “Proverbial Philosophy” which, after a mediocre start, went on to over 40 editions in the UK between 1838 and 1867 and over a million editions in the USA.
In 1839, Tupper published “A Modern Pyramid” a collection of sonnets to commemorate 70 distinguished men and women of the day.
Tupper was regarded as a genial, warm-hearted man and his humane instincts prompted him to champion many reforming movements; such as the Student Volunteer Movement. He wrote articles, poems and song-ballads on various topics.
He died in November 1889 in Albury, Surrey. At the end of his life his fame soon evaporated and his work was all but forgotten. This despite the self penned epitaph on his grave-stone: "Although he is dead, he will speak."