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The author of the OED was an American in an asylum

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The author of the OED was an American in an asylum

Dr. William Chester Minor's life is stranger than fiction. That an American surgeon came to be one of the largest contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is surprising.

Dr. William Chester Minor's life is stranger than fiction. That an American surgeon came to be one of the largest contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is surprising. That he wrote his entries while confined in a psychiatric facility is mind-boggling. The account of this bizarre tale is well-documented by Simon Winchester in his book, The Professor and the Madman.

The dictionary has been hailed as one of the greatest literary works in the history of the English language. Although the roots of the OED go back to 1857, it wasn't until 1878 that former schoolmaster Professor James Murray took over the dictionary project that the Oxford University Press eventually published. Contributors to the multi-volume work of 414,825 definitions included historians, philologists, businessmen, clergymen, and one murderer.

While most OED contributors had mundane occupations like banking, teaching, or writing, Minor played the flute and read voraciously. He did this while inside his comfortable two-room cell at the Broadmoor Asylum, five miles from Oxford.

Upon learning that Murray needed wordsmiths, Minor began corresponding with the man. Ironically, Murray had no idea that one of his most prolific volunteers had been judged criminally insane.

Minor Shot A Man In A Fit Of Paranoia

Rather than settle in a posh area when he left America, William Minor sought shelter in Lambeth, a section in south London. As Simon Winchester put it, the squalid locale afforded Minor “easy access to easy women.” That overcrowded, filthy, and crime-ridden part of the city was hardly a healthy venue for someone attempting to overcome a delusional mentality. As violent as Lambeth was, however, guns were not common there. Minor changed that posthaste.

It was barely two in the morning on February 17, 1872, when the sleeping denizens of Lambeth were awakened by unfamiliar sounds - gunshots breaking through the night. Minor had killed brewery worker George Merrett, who was on his way to work. The former surgeon thought Merrett was a home-intruder, although the man had never even set foot in the premises. During his trial, Minor's landlady testified that no strangers had broken the lodging's locks.

Minor’s stepbrother George also testified about William’s erratic behavior, so the judge ruled against him. He found the once esteemed man to be criminally insane. Minor was then transported the Broadmoor Asylum.