Le Mot Juste

St James’ churchyard in West Malvern is the last resting place of the great polymath Peter Mark Roget, the author of the famous Thesaurus. Gerald Heys finds out more about him and why he was so celebrated . . . acclaimed . . . revered . . . renowned . . .

 Just about everyone is familiar with his eponymous reference book, but not so many are acquainted with the other achievements of a man who contributed to the sum of human knowledge with a combination of brio and diligence that few can match. Roget (1779–1869) was born in London’s Soho. His father, John, was a pastor and native of Geneva, and his mother, Catherine, was of Huguenot descent. At 14, Roget entered Edinburgh University to study medicine, graduating in 1798.

The breadth of his subsequent interests and enthusiasms, and the esteem in which he was held, can be shown by simply listing (and Mr Roget loved lists) the eminent societies and institutions to which he belonged. Roget was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Fullerian professor of physiology and comparative anatomy at the Royal Institution, and a fellow and secretary of the Royal Society. He was a member of the Royal Geological Society, the Zoological Society, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Entomological Society, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Medico-Chirurgical Society and the Atheneum. He was a founder of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, where he was its editor of publications and for which he wrote manuals on electricity, galvanism, magnetism and electromagnetism (more than half his publications were on non-medical subjects). After taking an active part in the establishment of the University of London, he became an examiner in physiology and comparative anatomy, and chairman of the medical faculty; and was a member of the senate until his death.