William Roger Paton
William Roger Paton, usually cited as W. R. Paton, was a Scottish author and translator of ancient Greek texts, mostly known for his translation of the Greek Anthology.
Early life and family
William Roger Paton was born at Old Machar, Aberdeen, Scotland, son of John Paton and Eliza Deborah Burnett.His father, John Paton was educated at Eton College. He was in the military, initially in the Aberdeenshire militia as major and later colonel and deputy lieutenant of Aberdeenshire, and was also a magistrate. His mother Eliza Deborah Burnett was the daughter of Thomas Burnett of Kepplestone, also from Aberdeenshire. They married on 11 June 1844, and they had five children: four daughters and one son, William Roger, born at 10 Chanonry, Old Aberdeen, on 9 February 1857. His mother died three years later on 24 February 1860 at the age of 37. In 1862, his father married Catherine Margaret, daughter of Colonel Lumsden.
Education
He was educated at the same school as his father, Eton College, Windsor, where he studied from 1871 to 1873, boarding at Edward Peake Rouse's house and later on at Oscar Browning's. On 23 October 1876, at the age of 19 he became a student at University College, Oxford, where he took a first in Classical Moderations in 1877. The following year, he changed direction, starting legal studies for the bar at Middle Temple, London. Later on he returned to Oxford and obtained a third in Classics Literae Humaniores in 1880. Even though he was not called to the bar, he continued to be involved with Middle Temple until 1884.Later on, in 1900, the University of Halle awarded Paton an honorary PhD.
Marriage and life in the South
He was married in 1885 to Irene Olympitis, a woman from the island of Kalymnos who had a plot of land in Myndos but he later moved to Chios and Lesbos so that his sons could attend high school there.He had two sons and two daughters: George Paton, unmarried, Thetis Paton, who married Costakis Svinos in Smyrna, John David Paton,, who married Fenella Crombie from Scotland, and Sevastie or Augusta Paton, who married Baron János Kemény, Hungarian author, theater director and dramatist.
He appears as a resident of Vathy, Samos from 1897 to his death, 1921, from a number of periodicals which show this address and some of his published letters. He was a resident in Samos since his second marriage, to Clio, a woman from Samos, after the death of his first wife.
He died on 21 April 1921 in the town of Vathy, Samos.
Timeline
- 1857 birth at Old Machar, Aderbdeen
- 1871–1873 Oxford for studies
- 1885 married Irene Olympitis
- 1886 birth of his son George
- 1887 birth of his daughter Thetis, Woodside, Aberdeen
- 1890 birth of his son David
- 1890 signs letter from Aberdeen
- 1897 Vathy, Samos
- 1900 birth of his daughter Sevastie or Augusta, Myndos
- Chios/Lesvos for high school for his sons
- 1921 died at Vathy Samos
Works
He published the following books:- The inscriptions of Cos, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1891 in
- Plutarchi Pythici Dialogoi tres , , 1893
- Anthologiae Grecae Erotica, London, David Nutt, 1898,
- Inscriptiones insularum maris Aegaei praeter Delum, 2. Inscriptiones Lesbi, Nesi, Tenedi, Berlin 1899
- The Greek anthology with an English translation, The Loeb Classical Library
- * by W. R. Paton, published by W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's sons 1916 see also . Also available in και
- * by W. R. Paton, Published by W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's sons 1917 also see
- * by W. R. Paton, Published by W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's sons 1915 see also
- * by W. R. Paton, Published by W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's sons 1918. see also
- * by W. R. Paton, Published by W. Heinemann, G.P. Putnam's sons 1918 also see
- Histories of Polybius, Loeb Classical Library, "Polybius, The Histories", six volumes: Greek text with English translation by W. R. Paton
- *I Books I–II
- *II Books III–IV
- *III Books V–VIII
- *IV Books IX–XV
- *V Books XVI–XXVII
- *VI Books XXVIII–XXXIX
- Plutarchi Moralia, with other authors, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1925