John Conington

In 1866 he published his best-known work, the translation of the Aeneid of Virgil into the octosyllabic metre of Walter Scott.

He showed no special aptitude for journalism, but a series of articles on university reform (1849–1850) was the first public expression of his views on a subject that always interested him.

The only important exception was the translation of the last twelve books of the Iliad in the Spenserian stanza in completion of the work of P.S.

In 1852 Conington began, in conjunction with Goldwin Smith, a complete edition of Virgil with a commentary, of which the first volume appeared in 1858, the second in 1864, and the third soon after his death.

Goldwin Smith was compelled to withdraw from the work at an early stage, and in the last volume his place was taken by Henry Nettleship.

He began to attend chapel assiduously, only read religious books on Sundays, and to espouse conservative political views.

[2] On 23 October 1869, Conington died in Boston, Lincolnshire, following an illness caused by "a malignant pustule on the lip".

[2] The Conington Prize, an award for the best dissertation by an undergraduate in the Faculty of Classics, University of Oxford, was named in his honour.