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in Craven, an airy and healthful situation.
quantity of stones for the purpose from the ruins of Coxford Abbey in the neighbourhood. These stones, as often as any attempt was made to build them up in this unhallowed edifice, obstinately gave way. The owner next tried them in the construction of a bridge ; the arch of which, in like manner, suddenly shrunk. He then piously determined to apply them to the rebuilding of the parsonage-house, where they quietly remained till about the year 1764, when they were once more removed by the late Viscount, afterwards Marquess Townshend, to another place, and the site of the original manse, of which the foundations are still visible north-west from the church, was taken into the park. The strange wanderings of this Casa Santa are now, probably, at an end." 2 The Rev. William Whitaker, our Author's father, died in 1782, aged 51 : see under Holme (in vol. II.) the Latin epitaph which was erected there to his memory, and to that of his widow, (Lucy, daughter of Mr. Robert Dunham of Sedgford in Norfolk,) who died in 1788, at the age of 64.
wards published his portrait in the Supplement (1821) to Loidis and Elmete. "At the village of Grassington he received into his house a limited number of pupils, among whom, in the years 1774 and 1775, was the writer of this article." XIV BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIES OF went to reside Oct. 3, 1776. In November 1781 he took the degree of LL.B. intending to pursue the profession of the Civil Law, which he studied, for two years, with great attention. But in June 1782, his father having died, after a week's illness, he settled upon his paternal estate, which for thirty years he has continued to improve and adorn, by successive plantations. " In August 1785 he was ordained deacon at Rose Castle by Dr. John Law, Bishop of Clonfert [and afterwards of Elphin, eldest son of Dr. Edmund Law, then Bishop of Carlisle] ; and in July the following year received the order of priesthood from the same prelate, both without title. " In 1788, having previously recovered, by a donation of 400Z., the patronage of the Chapel of Holme, which had been founded by one of his ancestors, with the aid of some liberal subscriptions, but at an expense of 470J. to himself, he rebuilt it, the old edifice being mean and dilapidated. In 1797, he Avas licensed to the perpetual curacy of Holme, on his own nomination.
next year but one, for the West Riding of the county of York. " At the Cambridge Commencement, 1801, he completed the degree of LL.D. " In the month of January, 1809, he was presented, by the present Archbishop of Canterbury (Manners Sutton), to the Vicarage of Whalley, the great object of his wishes. 1 For this favour, besides his Grace's own generous disposition to reward a stranger who had written the History of the Parish, he was also indebted to the recommendation of that learned and excellent prelate, Dr. Cleaver, formerly his diocesan, and then Bishop of Ban-
which has long been very near my heart, and which after all will in a pecuniary view be, for some time at least, the gaining of a loss. For the vicarage house is in a sad dilapidated state, and I find that I am in hands from which little can be wrung without ligitation. Then there is a tenant in the house who, after having given voluntary notice to quit at Easter, now threatens to hold over, when all the materials are prepared for the repairs.
especially in winter, as I conveniently can, though I scarcely know how I can pack my large family within the walls. For this intention, however, I have several reasons. And first, a sense of duty, that I may be found as much as possible at my post. Secondly, that I may be nearer my friends than at Holme, though at Whalley I must receive them presso lore, which I trust will be overlooked if the receiver be also fluids amicis. A third, and I hope a still inferior motive, is my health, as I am persuaded that the mild air of Whalley in early spring will better agree with my lungs than the harsh unkindly blasts that sweep our eastern moors.
wish to preach annually in every church and chapel within it, and you, I trust, will have no objection to accept my services in course at Clitheroe and Downham. Will you do me the favour to mention the same subject to Mr. Clarke with respect to Whitewell ? As I am a wretched horseman, I propose to economise distances by taking two neighbouring churches every Sunday. I hope this plan will neither be unnseful nor disagreeable in the parish. It will at least bring me acquainted with the parishioners, and noscere exerdtus, nosci exercitui may be applied to a parish minister as well as an officer. Dr. Coulthurst [the Vicar of Halifax] and Mr. Haddon [the Vicar of Leeds] have found great satisfaction in pursuing this plan in their respective parishes." (Letter to the Eev. Thomas Wilson, from Holme, March 23 1309. The living of Whalley, at this time, was worth little more than 100Z., and Holme about 50/. per annum.
THOMAS DUNHAM WHITAKEK.
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gor, whose many instances of friendly attention he remembers with gratitude, and whose recent death he deeply deplores." On the 14th Jan. 1813, Dr. Whitaker was presented by Thomas Clarkson, then a minor, to the rectory of Heysham near Lancaster, but at that place he never resided ; and he resigned the benefice in 1819, Mr. Clarkson being then qualified to present himself to it.
the vicarage of Blackburn, which he retained, together with Whalley, until his death. 1 Such were the main events of Dr. Whitaker's progress in life; and we may now endeavour to recall some of the associations from which they arose, or to which they led. It is evident that his early course was much influenced by his attachment to his tutor Mr. Sheepshanks, who had been a Fellow and Tutor of St. John's college, Cambridge, the contemporary of Bishop John Law (named in the opposite page) and of Archdeacon Paley, and the tutor of many distinguished pupils, among whom were Edward Law (younger brother of John,) afterwards Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Lord Ellenborough, and John Pretyman, afterwards Tomline, successively Bishop of Lincoln and Winchester. Whit- aker, by the advice of Mr. Sheepshanks, went to the same college, where one of his contem- poraries and most intimate friends was Ilerbert Marsh, afterwards Bishop of Peter- borough.
in the country, he paused in his legal studies, and determined to make the Church his profession, it was to Bishop Law that he had recourse for ordination, and his earliest efforts in the pulpit w r ere exerted at Leeds, 2 where his friend Mr. Sheepshanks became 1 " Since he was presented to the vicarage of the populous and extensive parish of Blackburn, he has resided in that town the greater part of the year, and takes his full share along with the Curates in performing three services every Sunday, in a large church, and to a crowded congregation. In Dr. Whitaker's church Divine Service is performed, and a Sermon preached, on the Sunday night. I mention this, because I consider that Dr. Whitaker's approbation of a measure the tendency of which has sometimes been questioned, is of very great importance." (Part of a Letter signed CLERICUS LANCASTRIENSIS, and dated Bury, Lancashire, Oct. 2, 1820, written "by one who is totally unknown to him," and printed in the Gentleman's Magazine, xc. ii. 402.)
Church, Leeds, on the General Fast Day, February 28, 1794, and published at the request of the Congregation. A Sermon preached at the Consecration of the Chapel of Holme in Lancashire, July 19, 1794. A Sermon (on Isaiah x. 25, 26), preached in St. John's Church, Leeds, on the General Fast Day, Feb. 25, 1795. A Sermon (on Revelations, xxii. 2) preached in Trinity Church, Leeds, on Sunday, October 3, 1796 ; for the benefit of the General Infirmary in that town. A Sermon preached at the Consecration of the Chapel of Salesbury, in Lancashire, September 8, 1807. ("I entirely agree with you in the sentiments and feelings which our friend W.'s excellent Consecration Sermon has pro- duced; it is certainly a very masterly performance." The Rev. Thomas Starkie, Vicar of Blackburn, to the Rev. Thomas Wilson, Dec. 21, 1807.) A Sermon preached at the Primary Visitation of the Lord Bishop of Chester (George Henry Law), 1814. A Sermon on the Consecration of Whitewell Chapel, 1818. (" A memorable Sermon, preached in troublous times, from the words, Sound an Alarm," Joel, ii. 1. Not. Cestriensis, ii. 346.) xvi BIOGKAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF resident in 1777, and Vicar of St. John's church in 1783. On the 13th January in the latter year (two years before his ordination) Whitaker had married Lucy, daughter of Mr. Thomas Thoresby a merchant in Leeds, 1 and in the same town his two elder children
bouring clergy together for social and religious intercourse, Whitaker instituted a sort of literary club, consisting of half a dozen members, whose tastes were congenial, and who dined together at each other's houses once a month for several years. The Eev. Thomas Starkie the Vicar of Blackburn, the Rev. William Barton (M. D.) the Incumbent of Harwood and Samlesbury, the Rev. Robert Smith the Incumbent of Waddington, and the Rev. Thomas Wilson the Master of Clitheroe School, were amongst the regular members. The Rev. Henry William Coulthurst, D.D. the Vicar of Halifax, the Rev. Rowland Ingram the Vicar of Giggleswick, Mr. John Dawson the learned mathematician of Sed- bergh, and Mr. William Cockiu of Milnthorpe, who had been writing-master and accoun- tant of the grammar school at Lancaster, were occasionally welcome guests. At these meetings there Avas much sympathy of moral and religious feeling, elegant hospitality, plea- surable conversation, and quiet enjoyment. The subjects discussed previously announced were of a general and miscellaneous description, embracing matters affecting the Church, literature, and politics, and rendered especially attractive by the playful humour of Wilson, the mechanical listlessness of Starkie, the meditative tenderness of Barton, and the masculine freshness and warmth of Whitaker. 3
A Sermon preached in the parish church of Blackburn on Sunday July 11, 1819, on occasion of a late seditious meeting held in that town. This was published in a cheap form, pp. 20, for circulation among the operatives. It is a noble piece of oratory, and did great good in bringing the middle classes to a sense of the dangers which at that time surrounded them.
1820. 8vo. 1 At p. xv of his Life of Ralph Thoresby, prefixed to the Ducatus Leodiensis, 1816, Dr. Whitaker gives some account of that collateral branch of the family of Thursby or Thorsby from which his own wife was descended. Thomas Thoresby was living in Leeds in the reign of Charles the Second, and " Thus much is certain, that this person and Ralph were contemporaries in Leeds 41 years, and lived together on the footing of relations." Thomas was father of another Thomas, and " This second Thomas had a son of the same name, who, with a stronger and more original mind than Ralph, had a great bias to antiquarian pursuits, and bore a striking resemblance in the features of his countenance to the portrait of his celebrated relative. His oldest daughter married the Editor of this Work, who continued the name in the baptismal appellative of his oldest son." Just before it had been stated that " The name (excepting that it has been engrafted into another family by baptism) is now reduced to a single individual, without issue, and unmarried.'' This is believed to refer to Mrs. Whitaker's younger sister. 9 For further information in regard to Dr. Whitaker's family see the Pedigree under Holme in Volume II. 8 Memoirs of the Rev. Thomas Wilson, B. D., by the Rev. Mr. Canon Raines, prefixed to Miscellanies, &c. (Chetham Soc. vol. xlv.) p. Ivi. THOMAS DUNHAM WHITAKER xvii of the Church, and to the Greek and Roman historians of the same period. 1 To the anti- quities of his own locality and neighbourhood he was first earnestly directed by the perusal in Dugdale's Monasticon of the Status de Blackburnshire? a very interesting relic of that class of historical composition -which was most in favour in the monasteries. As this unfolded to his view a very extraordinary picture of the pristine ecclesiastical arrangements of the district in which he resided, 3 he was led by the curiosity thus excited to further investigation, and to pursue the history of the church and parish of Whalley in other records of its early ages. It was during the three closing years of the last century that the composition of the History of Whalley was seriously undertaken. The first portion of it was committed to the press early in 1800 ; 4 and was published during that year, with the Dedication to Mr. Townley, and the Preface, which are reprinted in the ensuing pages. 5 " PAIIT THE SECOND," which bears date 1801, commenced at page 217 of the first edition, and closed with page 408, supplemented by many additions and corrections. PART THE THIRD commenced with page 411, and closed at p. 483, followed by further supplementary pages. A Title-page was then printed for the whole volume, Avith the date M.D.CCCI. Dr. Whitaker was very fortunate in the assistance he received from his friends towards the expense of the engravings of this work. I3oth the plates of Roman antiquities were 1 See his own statement to this effect, quoted hereafter in p. xxii. - See his allusion to "this germ of the History of Wltallctj," in p. 96 of the present volume. 3 The results appear in the Chapter on the Ecclesiastical History of the Parish (Book n. chapter i.) See pp. 66 et seq. of the present Edition, where a more accurate text is given of the narrative of the Status de Blackburnshire than has previously been published.
tions that he had then just sent to Hemingway, his printer at Blackburn, the manuscript of the First Book of the History of Whalley, " some parts of which will exercise both his optics and his sagacity.'' This letter further contains a remark- able anecdote of" Turner, the draftsman," who was " showing all the irritability of youthful genius.'' See this passage hereafter at Gawthorp, to which place it relates.
Mr. Gough the Editor of Camden, in the Gentleman's Magazine (January 1802), at the unusual length of fourteen pages. The article, however, is rather a long series of extracts than anything more, for the critical observations are few ; but it concludes with this passage: " We flatter ourselves our readers will not be displeased with this extended review of a work whose author has shewn himself master of all that general knowledge which Cicero's friend Crassus requires in an orator, and qualified to discuss more at large the various topics which he has handled so judiciously on a smaller scale." Again, in the Magazine for December, 1805, the History of Craven was run through in like manner to the extent of nearly seventeen pages. The History of Whalley was reviewed in the British Critic, xxi. 101-108, and 229-236. An article in the Monthly Review, vol. xxxviii. criticised the History of Whalley with more freedom, and was not forgotten by its author when he published his subsequent work : " I understood that some of the Keviews had been sufficiently civil to The History of Craven; if the Monthly gentry are otherwise, unless they are guilty of some very gross misrepresentations, 1 have determined to treat them with silent contempt." Letter to the Rev. Thomas Wilson, March 1, 1808. XV111
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS OF
presented to him by Mr. Townley, 1 as were the views of Gawthorp and Townley Hall. Of the three plates of Whalley Abbey, one was certainly presented by Lady Howe (for it is so acknowledged in the inscription), another probably by Lord Curzon, and the third not improbably by Mr. Beaumont of Whitley. Mr. Beaumont was certainly the contri- butor of the large plate of Little Mitton Hall, and of all the portraits of the Beaumonts. Mr. Lister Parker gave the two plates of Browsholme, and the use of several etchings which had been made for him by Mr. John Chessell Buckler. The view of Read Hall was contri- buted by the author's cousin, Alexander Nowell, esq.
works (in water-colours) of the great painter, Joseph Mallord William Turner, R. A., though they bear his name under the simple designation of " W m . Turner, A." It was only in the year 1800, at the time when Turner, then five and twenty, was employed for " Whalley," that he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, an Academician in 1802. The landscapes that he subsequently drew for Dr. Whitaker's Richmondshire rank among the finest of his works.
and the plate probably engraved at his expense. It is the subject in the present work most characteristic of the painter's future excellence, and one upon which the engraver bestowed correspondent pains. 2 After the History of Whalley was completed, and had been received with very general approbation, Dr. Whitaker was encouraged, particularly at the suggestion of the Rev. William Carr, of Bolton Abbey, 3 to direct the same attention to the adjoining district of
1 Dr. Whitaker to Mr. Wilson of Clitheroe, Feb. 6, 1800. " If Mr. T.'s delicacy will allow, I propose the follow- ing inscription for one of the plates of lloman Antiquities which he gives me :
in animi grati testimonium D. D. D. T. D. W." This inscription first appeared in the Wilson Correspondence, p. 1C9 : for both the plates of Roman Antiquities, it will be seen, are dedicated (in the same words) to the Society of Antiquaries ; but under the plate of Townley hall will be found a Latin dedication to Mr. Townley, and under the distant view of Townley an inscription to his memory, including the encomiastic designation proposed in 1800, artium et elegantiarum arbitro eximio. Dr. Whitaker's Dedi- cation to Mr. Townley of the First Edition of this Work is reprinted hereafter.
Towneley's collections at the British Museum, as well as other reasons. Dr. Whitaker usually wrote and spelt it Townley, and his spelling has been left unaltered in several pkces of this volume. It appears that the middle e was adopted, '. e. resumed, during Mr. Towneley's time. ' Mr. Basire is now at work on the plate of Clitheroe, which he says will deserve twenty-five guineas." Dr. Whitaker to Mr. Wilson, Feb. 6, 1800. " His highly-esteemed friend the Reverend William Carr, B.D. Minister of Bolton Abbey, and late Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, as he first suggested the idea of the present work, has continued to urge it on, through every part of its progress, with a zeal and activity which merit his warmest thanks." Preface to the First Edition of the History of Craven, 1805. THOMAS DUNHAM WHITAKEE. xix
Craven. His plans were matured at the close of 1802, when he issued a Prospectus l in which the scope of the proposed work was thus developed: Prospectus of a HISTORY of the DEANERY of CRAVEN and WAPONTAKE of STAINCLIFFE in the County of York, in six Books, intended as a continuation of the History of Whalley. By THOMAS DUNHAM \\'HITAKER, LL.D., F.S.A.
Climate, Mineralogy, and Scenery of the country. BOOK 1st. Will consist of the British and Roman Antiquities of Craven, particularly the Station of Olicana and other Encampments, a Roman Villa, Roads, &c. together with the Discoveries belonging to those two Periods, which, at different times, have been made within that District.
and Bernoldswick (i. e. Kirkstall) and the Priory of Bolton. Observations on the Monastic Life and Manners, the State of Religion in the 12th and 13th Centuries, &c. Several interesting Epistles and other Remains of the Abbots of Kirkstall and Salley, hitherto unpublished. Also many original Epistles and other curious Particulars of the first Abbots of Whalley, from a MS. communicated to the Author since the Publication of the History of that Parish. 2 BOOK 3rd. Will give a general Survey of the State of Property in Craven from the JEra. of Domesday Book, together with an Account of the Origin, Descents, and final Union of the two great Fees of Percy Yüklə 4,81 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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