Thomas Legh Claughton

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Thomas Legh Claughton (6 November 180825 July 1892) was a British academic, poet and clergyman. He was professor of poetry at Oxford University from 1852 to 1857; Bishop of Rochester; and the first Bishop of St Albans.[1]

[edit] Biography

Claughton was born on 6 November 1808 at at Haydock Lodge in Winwick, Lancashire. He was the son of Lancashire MP Thomas Claughton and his wife, Maria.[2] He was educated at Rugby School and was admitted in 1826 to Trinity College, Oxford, where he took a first in Literae Humaniores in 1831.

Remaining at Oxford, he held the post of select preacher to the University four times between 1841 and 1868 and from 1852 to 1857 he held the office of Professor of Poetry.

Ordained in 1834, Claughton was assigned no cure until 1841, when he was appointed vicar of Kidderminster. This post he held for 26 years and was widely acclaimed for his work.[1] In April 1867, Claughton was nominated Bishop of Rochester on the recommendation of Lord Derby, for whose installation as Chancellor of Oxford Claughton had written an ode.

In 1877, the Diocese of St Albans was created out of land previously ministered under Claughton's see, the Diocese of Rochester. Claughton chose to move into the newly created Diocese, becoming the first Bishop of St Albans, a post which he held until 1890.

From his enthronement as Bishop of Rochester to his resignation from the bishopric of St Albans in 1890, Claughton resided at Danbury Palace (near Chelmsford), where he died on 25 July 1892.

He is buried in St Albans Cathedral.

Religious Posts
Preceded by
Joseph Cotton Wigram
Bishop of Rochester
1867 – 1877
Succeeded by
Anthony Wilson Thorold
Preceded by
new creation
Bishop of St Albans
1877 – 1890
Succeeded by
John Wogan Festing

[edit] Selected works

  • "Voyages of Discovery to the Polar Regions" (1829), poem – winner of the Newdigate prize for 1829
  • Questions on the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels (1853–57), 2 vols.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Sutton, C. W. "Claughton, Thomas Legh (1808–1892)." Rev. H. C. G. Matthew. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Accessed 10 Feb 2007.
  2. ^ Thomas Legh Claughton. 19th-Century Bishops of the Church of England. Retrieved on February 10, 2007.
Persondata
NAME Claughton, Thomas Legh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Anglican bishop
DATE OF BIRTH November 6, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH Haydock Lodge, Winwick, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH July 25, 1892
PLACE OF DEATH Danbury Palace, nr. Chelmsford, England