Badham was born at
Ludlow, Shropshire, the fourth son of
Charles Badham senior, a
classical scholar and
regius professor of
physic at
Glasgow; and Margaret Campbell, a cousin of
Thomas Campbell. His elder brother, Rev. Dr
Charles David Badham, became a physician and popular writer. From seven years of age, Badham was sent with his three brothers to
Switzerland to study under
Johann Pestalozzi. Badham afterwards attended
Eton College from about 1826, and in 1830 was elected to a scholarship at
Wadham College, Oxford, but only obtained a third class in
Classics (1836), a failure which may have been due to the methods of study at
Oxford. In 1837 Badham went to Italy, where he occupied himself in the study of ancient manuscripts, in particular those of the
Vatican Library. Badham afterwards spent some time in Germany, and was incorporated M.A. at
Peterhouse, Cambridge, in 1847. ==Late life and legacy==