Have you heard of Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge?

There is so much to see at The Exchange Interactive Centre, especially in our 18th-century classroom exhibition. In this gallery, you will find the portrait of Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge a former student of Harrison College who was said to be the greatest classical scholar in Barbados. Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge was born on the 22^nd of December 1865 at Belle Farm Estate Barbados. He was the second son of his parents. His father was a Headmaster at various schools across the island for many years and held a high reputation as a teacher.

His brother Samuel, won the Barbados scholarship in 1882 and attended St. John’s College, Cambridge, where he gained first-class honours in the final year of the university’s degree in mathematics. Samuel also attained second-class honours in the Law Tripos in 1887 and was called to the bar at Gray’s Inn in 1889 but unfortunately died in 1890.

While at Harrison College, Abel won the Barbados Scholarship in 1884 and was enrolled at Balliol College, Oxford the same year. He was elected to an exhibition a year later and was placed in the first class, both in Classical Moderations in 1886 and in the final classical school in 1888. Abel graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1888 and went on to get his Masters in Arts and his Doctorate in Literature by 1904. He was elected fellow of Hertford College, and became a lecturer and tutor, retaining these offices until he died in 1906. He was also a lecturer in ancient history at Brasenose College and an author. His first book is called Infamia, Its Place in Roman Public and Private Law and was published at Oxford in 1894.

Despite his early death, he made many contributions through his literary works and academic teachings. Abel Hendy Jones Greenidge was without a doubt one of the greatest Classical scholars that Barbados has ever produced.