{{Short description|Schoolmaster whose educational writings were widely read}} '''George Darnell''' (1 January 1799 - 26 February 1857) was a schoolmaster whose educational writings were widely read, with ''Darnell's Copybooks'' becoming a household name.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|prescript=|wstitle=Darnell, George|no-icon=1}}</ref>
==Biography== [[File:Grave of George Darnell in Highgate Cemetery.jpg|thumb|Grave of George Darnell in Highgate Cemetery]] Darnell was born on 1 December 1799 at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, the eldest son of John Darnell (Miller) and his wife Mary, formerly Mary Holloway.<ref>Market Harborough Parish Baptisms 1799</ref><ref>Leicestershire Chronicle 7 March 1857</ref>
After running a preparatory school at Market Harborough{{citation needed|date=February 2022}} he came to London and established, and conducted for many years, a large classical day school in Islington.<ref name=Willats1987>{{cite book |last1=Willats |first1=Eric A. |title=Streets with a Story: Islington |date=1987 |isbn=0-9511871-04 |url=https://friendsofim.com/2021/04/08/streets-with-a-story-the-book-of-islington/}}</ref> Though physically weak he was a shrewd and caring man whose publications aimed to make preparatory schooling less daunting for pupils.{{r|DNB}}
His series of ''Copybooks'' were widely used for many years in elementary schools, and ''Darnell's Copybooks'' became a household name from their introduction in the 1840s. The books were widely imitated, but he was the first to introduce the concept of giving a line of copy in pale ink, to be first written over by the pupil, then to be copied in the next blank line.{{r|DNB}}
His educational writings included ''A Short and Certain Road to Reading'' (1845), ''Grammar Made Intelligible to Children'' (1846), and ''Arithmetic Made Intelligible to Children'' (1855),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Darnell |first1=George |title=Arithmetic made Intelligible to Children |date=1855 |publisher=Grant and Griffith |location=London |pages=1855 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ukW2c1i6Hy4C&dq=%22george+darnell%22+%22arithmetic+made+intelligible%22&pg=PA1 |access-date=10 February 2022}}</ref> which for many years had an enormous sale. The prefaces to these short works contained innovative practical suggestions for teachers, which came to be widely adopted.{{r|DNB}}
Darnell, who was unmarried, died at his home, 70 Gibson Square, Islington, on 26 February 1857, aged fifty-eight,{{r|DNB}} and was buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery. The epitaph on his grave reads:
''In memory of George Darnell; For thirty years principal of the Theberton School, Islington; A most skilful and loving instructor of the young; A zealous friend to the cause of popular education; Author of several works designed to render easy the beginning of knowledge; His earthly life, marked by active goodwill towards men, by generosity and self-sacrifice ended serenely on the 26th day of February 1857 in the 59th year of his age. Reader, so live; that - by God's grace - so thou mayst die.''<ref name=FC>{{cite book |last1=Cansick |first1=Frederick Teague |title=The Monumental Inscriptions of Middlesex Vol 2 |date=1872 |publisher=J Russell Smith |page=165 |url=https://archive.org/details/acollectioncuri03cansgoog/page/n202/mode/2up |access-date=23 February 2022}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Darnell, George}} Category:British educators Category:1857 deaths Category:Burials at Highgate Cemetery Category:Year of birth uncertain