During their seven-year residence in Cairo from 1842 to 1849, Lane Poole wrote The Englishwoman in Egypt, while her son was imbibing an early taste for Egyptian antiquities.
He was largely responsible for founding the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1882 and for starting the Society of English Medallists in 1884.
[2] He was Yates Professor of Archaeology at University College, London from 1889,[1] and also a lecturer at the Royal Academy.
Some of Poole's best work was done in his articles for the 9th edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, on Egypt, Hieroglyphics and Numismatics; he also wrote for Smith's Dictionary of the Bible and published volumes dealing with his special subjects.
Poole was one of the strong defenders in England of the work of Champollion when he was criticized harshly by Sir George Lewis even as late as 1862.