Complex sentence: Walter William Skeat (21 November 1835--6 October 1912), FBA, was the pre-eminent English philologist of his time, and was instrumental in developing English as a higher education subject in the United Kingdom.
Split into simpler sentences: Walter William Skeat (21 November 1835--6 October 1912), FBA, was the pre-eminent British philologist of his time. He was instrumental in developing the English language as a higher education subject in the United Kingdom.