Richard MacGillivray Dawkins


Richard MacGillivray Dawkins FBA was a British archaeologist. He was associated with the British School at Athens, of which he was Director between 1906 and 1913.

Early life

He was the son of Rear-Admiral Richard Dawkins of Stoke Gabriel and his wife Mary Louisa McGillivray, only surviving daughter of Simon McGillivray. He was educated at Marlborough College and at King's College, London where he trained as an electrical engineer.

Academic career

He took part in the dig at Palékastro, and the survey of Lakonia ; also at Rhitsona. He undertook linguistic fieldwork in Cappadocia from 1909 to 1911, which resulted in a basic work on Cappadocian Greek. Then he led a dig at Filakopí from 1911.
He was the first Bywater and Sotheby Professor of Byzantine and Modern Greek Language and Literature at the University of Oxford.
In 1907, he inherited the Plas Dulas estate from a first cousin. There he experimented with plant importation and cultivation. He also displayed archaeological antiquities within the garden.

Works