Educated at Eton and Oxford, Badham was an outstanding classical scholar but his unorthodox religious views made it difficult for him to progress through the ranks of the Church of England and in the English universities. He became professor of classics at the University of Sydney in 1867, and from then until his death was an energetic figure in the development of the Univeristy and education in New South Wales generally. Besides his criticism and scholarly commentaries on classical texts – the Australian Dictionary of Biography describes him as 'one of the last great textual critics' – Badham wrote essays on education, and some poetry. He was also noted as a gifted speaker.
Source: Wilma Radford, 'Badham, Charles (1813–1884)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/badham-charles-2915/text4203
Sighted: 13/03/ 2006.