William George Meredith

William George Meredith (1804–1831) was an English historian. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1830. Life He was the son of George Meredith (1762–1831) of London; his father was an architect. Meredith's father and uncle, who was also named William George Meredith (–1831), were the patrons of Thomas Taylor, a prolific neoplatonist translator and the first to translate many important Ancient Greek works into English. The Meredith family were neighbours in Bloomsbury of the family of Isaac D'Israeli, and William was a close friend of the young Benjamin Disraeli. Meredith matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford in 1821, aged 17, graduating B.A. in 1824, and M.A.in 1829. While at Oxford, he had come to an unofficial understanding of engagement with Disraeli's sister Sarah; it became official in mid-1830, as he and Disraeli set off on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean, but was cut short by Meredith's death. In 1828 Meredith undertook a journey to Scandinavia. In 1830 he attended a scientific lecture at the Royal Institution, which he found puzzling; and asked Sir Anthony Carlisle for support for election to the Royal Society. Later in the year, he was successful in standing there.