Herbert Jackson

Herbert Jackson (1 March 1851 – 3 February 1921) was an English crammer associated with the University of Oxford. The son of a Devon doctor, Jackson attended the University of Oxford from 1868 as one of its first unattached students (not associated with any university college). After graduation in 1874, he refused to take the university's Master of Arts degree and worked briefly as an usher. He returned to Oxford to work as a crammer, a tutor who coached students to pass exams and gained a reputation as the last hope of men on the verge of failing their degrees.

Jackson was eccentric in personality. His reputation for taking long walks in the nearby countryside gave him the nickname "The British Workman", shortened to "Britters" in the Oxford style. Jackson wore old clothes and trousers with a low crotch, which led to rumours among students that they concealed a coiled-up tail.

Early life Jackson was born on 1 March 1851 at Bere Ferrers near Plymouth.

The University of Oxford passed an act in 1868 that permitted men to matriculate as unattached students (Scholares nulli Collegio vel Aulae ascripti; "Scholars enrolled in no college or hall"), without being associated with any university college.

Jackson's failing eyesight in later years led to him being unable to read newspapers or continue his long walks. He also gave up alcohol and smoking. Counsell recalled that Jackson's unusual clothing led him to become a "stupendous oddity" known among generations of undergraduates. Jackson was buried in St Sepulchre's Cemetery on 7 February 1921, and the funeral was attended by a nephew and representatives of the university. His gravestone is rendered in Latin and notes his status as an unattached student and claims him as "a man of unbending integrity". It also states "he was equally robust in mind and body (but both alas were for a long time equally tormented)".