Edward Knight's Family
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... was thrown from his horse, and a serious illness ensued, grievously effecting his head. He was ready for Greats, and either could not sit for the examination at all, or only attempted one or two papers. He was awarded an 'honorary' 3rd Class, a matter of which he spoke in after years with bitter mortification. 'It should have been an 'aegrotat', he said. But an 'aegrotat' is only given if a certain number of papers are written, a fact of which he must have been unaware, or had forgotten; and at any rate the Honorary Third was a recognition of his work hitherto, and enabled him to take his B.A. and M.A. in the following years – and so become a member of his University.
The accident, however, limited his life as he was never again capable of any sustained intellectual effort. Later, as Rector of Bramber, he could not even preach without unbearable headaches ensuing, and came to leave all preaching to his curate. Thus ended the high hopes which both his father and Morland himself must have entertained of a brilliant future in public life, Law or the University itself.
There was some immediate consolation however, for Magdalen College came to his rescue. He was made a Demy of the College in the year of the accident, and became a Fellow of Magdalen in the ...
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