"[1]: 34, 5 Walter also wrote that their mother "was a New Forest girl, born and brought up in a village called Dibden near Hythe and Beaulieu (Bewlay).
During her childhood she ran about on the outskirts of the Forest, catching and riding bareback ponies, and drinking in the folklore and old-wife wisdom of that sequestered district...Her father was by trade a builder, contractor, and architect...My mother was the cleverest woman I have ever known: the quickest witted; the surest and safest in her judgements; the most prophetic for those she loved; the most far-seeing…The comfort of the house, the well-being of the children, were alike due to my mother’s genius for administration.
He took part in Cambridge Mathematical Tripos in 1850, gaining the title of Senior Wrangler.
But then, as Walter explained, he needed a rest: In 1853 William became a Fellow of Saint John's College, Cambridge where he was a lecturer in mathematics until 1889.
According to Mathews, "he had the great advantage (for a coach) of being equally good in geometry, analysis, and dynamics.
"[3] In 1859 Besant vacated his Fellowship with Saint John's college to marry Margaret Elizabeth Willis, daughter of Rev.
In 1863 Besant published Elementary Hydrostatics, a textbook on fluid statics containing mathematical exercises such as students might face in examination.