MerryK8896455 at 10:09, 22 February 2026

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{{short description|British academic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Caroline Rhys Davids
| image = CAFRD.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name = Caroline Augusta Foley
| birth_date = {{birth date|1857|9|27|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Wadhurst]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1942|6|26|1857|9|27|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Chipstead, Surrey|Chipstead]], England
| residence =
| citizenship =
| ethnicity =
| field = [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] Studies, [[Pāli]].
| work_institutions = [[School of Oriental Studies]] (today [[School of Oriental and African Studies]]), [[Victoria University of Manchester]] (today [[University of Manchester]])
| alma_mater = [[University College London]]
| doctoral_advisor =
| doctoral_students =
| known_for =
| prizes =
| religion =
| footnotes =
}}

'''Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids''' (1857–1942) was a British writer and translator. She worked first in economics before becoming widely known as an editor, translator, and interpreter of [[Buddhist]] texts in the [[Pāli]] language. She was honorary secretary of the [[Pali Text Society]] from 1907, and its president from 1923 to 1942.<ref>'DAVIDS, Caroline A. F. Rhys', ''Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press, 2014. [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U224473, accessed 28 Sept 2017]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Early life and education==

Caroline Augusta Foley was born on 27 September 1857 in [[Wadhurst|Wadhurst, East Sussex]], England, to John Foley and Caroline Elizabeth Foley (née Windham). She was born into a family with a long ecclesiastic history: her father, John Foley, served as the vicar of Wadhurst from 1847 to 1888; her grandfather and great grandfather had served as rector of [[Holt, Worcestershire]] and vicar of [[Mordiford|Mordiford, Herefordshire]], respectively.

Two years before her birth, five of her siblings died within one month in December 1855/January 1856 from [[diphtheria]] and are commemorated in the church of St Peter and St Paul, Wadhurst.<ref>{{cite web|title=Church Guide|url=http://www.wadhurstparishchurch.org/old/a5guide.pdf|publisher=Wadhurst Parish Church|access-date=28 February 2015|page=13}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Payne|first1=Russell|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8XUbnFn5M8 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/i8XUbnFn5M8| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title=The Foley Family. A tragedy from the past (The Secrets of Wadhurst Church)|publisher=YouTube|access-date=28 February 2015|date=21 May 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> One surviving brother, John Windham Foley (1848–1926), became a missionary in India and another, [[Charles Foley (footballer)|Charles Windham Foley]] (1856–1933), played in three [[FA Cup Final]]s for [[Old Etonians F.C.|Old Etonians]], being on the winning side in [[1882 FA Cup Final|1852]]; he later had a career as a solicitor.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Warsop|first1=Keith|title=The Early F.A. Cup Finals and the Southern Amateurs|publisher=Soccer Data|year=2004|isbn=1-899468-78-1|page=79}}</ref> Her sister, [[Mary Cecilia Foley]], became a geologist.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/faculty-library/archive/collection-rhys-davids-family-pali-scholars#mcf|title=Collection of Rhys Davids family, Pali scholars - MC Foley|date=July 5, 2018|website=www.ames.cam.ac.uk}}</ref>

Rhys Davids was home schooled by her father and then attended [[University College, London]] studying philosophy, psychology, and economics (PPE). She completed her BA in 1886 and an MA in philosophy in 1889. During her time at University College, she won both the [[John Stuart Mill Scholarship]] and the [[Joseph Hume Scholarship]]. It was her psychology tutor [[George Croom Robertson]] who "sent her to Professor Rhys Davids",<ref>Revell, Alex. (1984). ''Brief Glory: The Life of Arthur Rhys Davids.'' William Kimber, p.14.</ref> her future husband, to further her interest in Indian philosophy. She also studied Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy with [[Reinhold Rost]]. [[Thomas Rhys Davids]] was elected a fellow of University College in 1896. Caroline Rhys Davids was awarded an honorary D.Litt. degree by the [[Victoria University of Manchester]] (today [[University of Manchester]]) in 1919.<ref>University of Manchester, Register of Graduates And Holders of Diplomas And Certificates 1851–1958 [filed under Davids]</ref>

==Career==

As a student, she was a prolific writer and a vocal campaigner in the movements for [[Poor Law|poverty relief]], [[children's rights]], and [[women's suffrage]].

Before moving into Buddhist studies, Rhys Davids wrote seventeen entries for ''Palgrave Dictionary of Political Economy'' (1894-99/1910), including "Rent of ability," "Science, Economic, as distinguished from art," "Statics, Social, and social dynamics," as well as twelve biographical entries. Her entry, "Fashion, economic influence of," was related to her 1893 ''Economic Journal'' article, "Fashion," and reflects an unusual economic interest (see Fullbrook 1998). She also translated articles for the ''Economic journal'' from German, French and Italian, including [[Carl Menger]]'s 1892 article "On the Origin of Money".<ref> {{cite journal |title= On the Origin of Money |journal=[[The Economic Journal]]|volume= 2 |year= 1892 |issue= 6 |pages= 239–255 |translator= Caroline A. Foley |translator-link = Caroline Rhys Davids|jstor= 2956146 |last= Menger |first= Karl|author-link=0|doi= 10.2307/2956146|ref=none}}</ref><ref>Robert W. Dimand (1999) "Women Economists in the 1890s: Journals, Books and the Old Palgrave." ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'', 21 (3): 272</ref> In 1896 Rhys Davids published two sets of lecture notes by her former teacher and mentor George Croom Robertson, one on psychology<ref>Robertson, George Croom (1896a). ''Elements of Psychology.'' Ed. by Davids, C. A. F. Rhys. 1896. https://archive.org/stream/elementsofpsycho00robeuoft#page/xii/mode/2up</ref> and one on philosophy.<ref>Robertson, George Croom (1896b) ''Elements of General Philosophy.'' Ed. by Davids, C. A. F. Rhys. https://archive.org/details/elementsofconstr00robeuoft</ref> Rhys Davids was on the editorial board of the ''Economic Journal'' from 1891 to 1895.

T. W. Rhys Davids encouraged his then pupil Caroline to pursue Buddhist studies and do research about Buddhist psychology and the place of women in Buddhism. Among her first works were a translation of the [[Dhammasaṅgaṇī]], a text from the [[Theravāda]] [[Abhidhamma]] [[tripitaka|Piṭaka]], which she published under the title ''A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics: Being a translation, now made for the first time, from the original Pāli, of the first book in the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, entitled: Dhamma-sangaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena)'' (1900); a second early translation was that of the [[therigatha|Therīgāthā]], a canonical work of verses traditionally ascribed to early Buddhist nuns (under the title ''Psalms of the Sisters'' [1909]).

Rhys Davids held two academic positions, Lecturer in Indian Philosophy at [[Victoria University of Manchester]] (today [[University of Manchester]]) (1910–1913), and Lecturer in the History of Buddhism at the School of Oriental Studies, later renamed the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] (1918–1933). While teaching, she simultaneously acted as the Honorary Secretary of the [[Pali Text Society]] which had been started by T. W. Rhys Davids to transcribe and translate [[Pāli]] Buddhist texts in 1881. She held that position from 1907 until her husband's death in 1922; the following year, she took his place as President of the Society.<ref>'DAVIDS, Caroline A. F. Rhys', ''Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press, 2014. [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U224473, accessed 28 Sept 2017]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Her translations of Pāli texts were at times idiosyncratic, but her contribution as editor, translator, and interpreter of Buddhist texts was considerable. She was one of the first scholars to translate [[Abhidhamma]] texts, known for their complexity and difficult use of technical language. She also translated large portions of the [[tripitaka|Sutta Piṭaka]], and edited and supervised the translations of other PTS scholars. Beyond this, she also wrote numerous articles and popular books on Buddhism; it is in these manuals and journal articles where her controversial ''volte-face'' towards several key points of Theravāda doctrine can first be seen.

After the death of her son in 1917 and her husband in 1922, Rhys Davids turned to [[Spiritualism (religious movement)|Spiritualism]]. She became particularly involved in various forms of [[psychic]] communication with the dead, first attempting to reach her dead son through [[seances]] and then through [[automatic writing]]. She later claimed to have developed [[clairaudience]], as well as the ability to pass into the next world when dreaming. She kept extensive notebooks of automatic writing, along with notes on the afterlife and diaries detailing her experiences. These notes form part of her archive jointly held by the [[University of Cambridge]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/library/archive/rhys |title=Rhys Davids family — Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies |access-date=1 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001213026/https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/library/archive/rhys |archive-date=1 October 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[University of London]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/7fa1c75f-a37f-315a-b3cc-1d1f66355c86|title = Davids, Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys- - Archives Hub}}</ref>

Earlier in her career she accepted mainstream beliefs about Buddhist teachings, but later in life she rejected the concept of ''[[anatta]]'' as an "original" Buddhist teaching. She appears to have influenced several of her students in this direction, including [[A. K. Coomaraswamy]], [[F. L. Woodward]], and [[I. B. Horner]].

==Family==

[[File:Arthur Rhys Davids by William Orpen.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The fighter ace [[Arthur Rhys Davids]]. He died in action on 23 October 1917, aged just twenty.]]
Caroline Augusta Foley married [[Thomas William Rhys Davids]] in 1894. They had three children: Vivien Brynhild Caroline Foley Rhys Davids (1895–1978), [[Arthur Rhys Davids]] (1897–1917), and Nesta Enid (1900–1973).

Vivien won the Clara Evelyn Mordan Scholarship to [[St Hugh's College, Oxford]] in 1915,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/sthughscollegeoxford/docs/chronicle_1934-1935/41|title=St Hugh's College, Oxford - Chronicle 1934-1935|date=8 September 2015 }}</ref> later serving as a Surrey County Councillor, and receiving an [[Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire|MBE]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/library/archive/rhys#vbcfrd |title=Rhys Davids family — Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies |access-date=2 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410175339/http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/library/archive/rhys#vbcfrd#vbcfrd |archive-date=10 April 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Arthur was a gifted scholar and a decorated World War I fighter ace, but was killed in action in 1917. Neither Vivien nor Nesta married or had children.

Rhys Davids died suddenly in [[Chipstead, Surrey]] on 26 June 1942. She was 84.

==Works and translations==
{{Library resources box|by=yes|onlinebooksby=yes|viaf=41910441}}

===Books===
*''Buddhism: A Study of the Buddhist Norm'' (1912)
*''Buddhist Psychology: An Inquiry into the Analysis and Theory of Mind in Pāli Literature'' (1914)
*''Old Creeds and New Needs'' (1923)
*''The Will to Peace'' (1923)
*''Will & Willer'' (1926)
*''Gotama the Man'' (1928)
*''Sakya: or, Buddhist Origins'' (1928)
*''Stories of the Buddha : Being Selections from the Jataka'' (1929)
*''Kindred Sayings on Buddhism'' (1930)
*''The Milinda-questions : An Inquiry into its Place in the History of Buddhism with a Theory as to its Author'' (1930)
*''A Manual of Buddhism for Advanced Students'' (1932)
*''Outlines of Buddhism: A Historical Sketch'' (1934)
*''Buddhism: Its Birth and Dispersal'' (1934) - A completely rewritten work to replace ''Buddhism: A Study of the Buddhist Norm'' (1912)
*''Indian Religion and Survival: A Study'' (1934)
*''The Birth of Indian Psychology and its Development in Buddhism'' (1936)
*''To Become or not to Become (That is the Question!): Episodes in the History of an Indian Word'' (1937)
*''What is your Will'' (1937) - A rewrite of ''Will & Willer''
*''What was the original gospel in 'Buddhism'?'' (1938)
*''More about the Hereafter'' (1939)
*''Wayfarer's Words, V. I-III'' - A compilation of most of C. A. F. Rhys Davids' articles and lectures, mostly from the latter part of her career. V. I (1940), V. II (1941), V. III (1942 - posthumously)

===Translations===
* {{cite journal |title= On the Origin of Money |journal=[[The Economic Journal]]|volume= 2 |year= 1892 |issue= 6 |pages= 239–255 |translator= Caroline A. Foley |translator-link = Caroline Rhys Davids|jstor= 2956146 |last= Menger |first= Karl|author-link=0|doi= 10.2307/2956146|ref=none}}
*''A Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics or Buddhist Psychology, of the Fourth Century B.C., being a translation, now made for the first time, from the Original Pāli of the First Book in the Abhidhamma-Piţaka, entitled Dhamma-Sangaṇi (Compendium of States or Phenomena)'' (1900). (''Includes an original 80-page introduction.'') Reprint currently available from [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929105851/http://www.kessinger.net/searchresults_orderthebook.php?Title=3517 Kessinger Publishing]. {{ISBN|0-7661-4702-9}}.
*[http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/davids/psalms/psalms.html ''Psalms of the Early Buddhists: Volume I. Psalms of the Sisters'']. By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. London: Pāli Text Society, 1909, at [http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ A Celebration of Women Writers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528131015/http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/ |date=28 May 2014 }}
*''Points of Controversy; or, Subjects of discourse; being a translation of the Kathā-vatthu from the Abhidhamma-piṭaka'', Co-authored with Shwe Zan Aung (1915)

===Articles===
{{external links|section|date=August 2020}}
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/dav.htm On the Will in Buddhism] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland''. (1898) pp. 47–59
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/car.htm Notes on Early Economic Conditions in Northern India] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland''. (1901) pp. 859–888
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/rhy.htm The Soul-Theory in Buddhism] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland'' (1903) pp. 587–591
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/caf.htm Buddhism and Ethics] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Buddhist Review'' Vol. 1 No. 1. (1909) pp. 13–23
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/rht.htm Intellect and the Khandha Doctrine] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Buddhist Review''. Vol. 2. No. 1 (1910) pp. 99–115
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-ENG/mhb.htm Pāli Text Society] By Shwe Zan Aung and C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society''. (1917) pp. 403–406
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-JRAS/patna.htm The Patna Congress and the "Man"] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland''. (1929) pp. 27–36
*[http://enlight.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-MEL/caroline.htm Original Buddhism and Amṛta] By C. A. F. Rhys Davids. ''Melanges chinois et bouddhiques''. July 1939. pp. 371–382

==See also==
* [[Buddhism and psychology]]
* [[Indian psychology]]

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==References==
*'DAVIDS, Caroline A. F. Rhys', in ''Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press, 2014. (online edn, April 2014) [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U224473, accessed 28 Sept 2017]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*Neal, Dawn. (2014) The Life and Contributions of CAF Rhys Davids. The Sati Journal, 2: 15–31. https://www.academia.edu/11805005/The_Life_and_Contributions_of_CAF_Rhys_Davids
* {{cite journal |last1=Dimand |first1=Robert W. |title=Women Economists in the 1890s: Journals, Books and the Old Palgrave |journal=Journal of the History of Economic Thought |date=September 1999 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=269–288 |doi=10.1017/S1053837200004260 |s2cid=154662501 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Snodgrass |first1=Judith |title=Defining Modern Buddhism: Mr. and Mrs. Rhys Davids and the Pāli Text Society |journal=Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East |date=2007 |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=186–202 |doi=10.1215/1089201x-2006-052 |s2cid=144512132 |id={{Project MUSE|215908}} }}
*Wickremeratne, Ananda. ''The Genesis of an Orientalist: Thomas William Rhys Davids and Buddhism in Sri Lanka''. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1984. {{ISBN|0-8364-0867-5}}.
* {{cite journal |last1=Stede |first1=W. |title=Caroline Augusta Foley Rhys Davids |journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society |date=July 1942 |volume=74 |issue=3–4 |pages=267–268 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X0009804X |s2cid=163879042 |doi-access=free }}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110513234650/http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/ew27114.htm Mrs. Rhys Davids' Dialogue with Psychology (1893-1924)] By Teresina Rowell Havens. ''Philosophy East & West''. V. 14 (1964) pp. 51–58
*[https://archive.today/20120701183315/http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceArchive&search=IN=MS1082 Records of Caroline Rhys Davids at Senate House Library, University of London]
*{{cite web|title=LC Online Catalog - Caroline Rhys Davids|url=https://catalog.loc.gov/vwebv/search?searchArg=Caroline+Rhys+Davids&searchCode=GKEY%5E*&searchType=0&recCount=25&sk=en_US|website=catalog.loc.gov|access-date=13 April 2016}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070210132306/http://www.oriental.cam.ac.uk/archive/rhys.html University of Cambridge Library Archive Collection - Rhys Davids Family]

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Modern Buddhist writers}}
{{Windham family tree}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhys Davids, Caroline Augusta Foley}}
[[Category:British economists]]
[[Category:British women economists]]
[[Category:English Indologists]]
[[Category:English Theosophists]]
[[Category:Buddhist translators]]
[[Category:Pali–English translators]]
[[Category:Pali]]
[[Category:People from Wadhurst]]
[[Category:1857 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:British scholars of Buddhism]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College London]]

Caroline Rhys Davids - Revision history

MerryK8896455 at 10:09, 22 February 2026