Connop Thirlwall
Connop Thirlwall (11 January 1797 – 27 July 1875) was an English bishop (in Wales) and historian.
Early life
Thirlwall was born at Stepney, London, to Thomas and Susannah Thirlwall. His father was an Anglican priest who claimed descent from a Northumbrian family, served for some years as chaplain to Bishop Thomas Percy before becoming rector of Bowers Gifford in Essex in 1814.[1] The young Connop was a prodigy, learning Latin at three, Greek at four, and writing sermons at seven.[2]
He went to
Thirlwall now joined Hare in translating
On Hare's departure from Cambridge in 1832, Thirlwall became assistant college tutor, which led him to join in the great controversy upon the admission of Dissenters which arose in 1834. Thomas Turton, the regius professor of divinity (afterwards dean of Westminster and bishop of Ely), had written a pamphlet objecting to the admission. Thirlwall replied by pointing out that no provision for theological instruction was made by the colleges except compulsory attendance at chapel. This attack on a time-hallowed piece of college discipline brought a demand for his resignation as assistant tutor. He complied at once; his friends thought that he ought to have sat it out.[2]
The event marked him out for promotion by a Liberal Government, and in the autumn he received from Lord Brougham as chancellor the living of Kirby Underdale in Yorkshire.[2]
History of Greece
Though devoted to his parochial duties, he found time to begin his principal work, the History of Greece. This work was a commission from
Bishop of St David's
In 1837, Thirlwall was proposed as bishop of Norwich but his appointment was opposed by both King William IV and William Howley, the Archbishop of Canterbury, due to his liberal views.[5]
In 1840 Thirlwall was raised to the see of
He was not greatly loved by his clergy, who found him both taciturn and sarcastic. The great monument of his episcopate is the eleven famous charges in which he from time to time reviewed the position of the English Church with reference to whatever might be the most pressing question of the day—addresses at once judicial and statesmanlike, full of charitable wisdom and massive sense.[2]
His attempts to allay ecclesiastical panic, and to promote liberality of spirit, required no ordinary moral courage. He was one of four prelates who refused to prevent
He was the only bishop who voted for the
Character
Thirlwall's private life was happy and busy. Though never married, he was fond of children and of all weak things except weak-minded clergymen. He had a very judicial mind, and John Stuart Mill said he was the best orator he had ever heard. During his latter years he took great interest in the revision of the authorised version of the Bible, and was chairman of the revisers of the Old Testament.[2]
He resigned his see in May 1874, and retired to Bath, where he died. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in the same grave as Grote.[2] His bust on his monument was sculpted by Edward Davis.[7]
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, as scholar, critic and ecclesiastical statesman Thirlwall stood very high. He was not a great original thinker; he lacked the creative faculty and the creative impulse. His character, with its mixture of greatness and gentleness, was thus read by Carlyle: "A right solid, honest-hearted man, full of knowledge and sense, and, in spite of his positive temper, almost timid."[2]
Principal works
- History of Greece. 8 vols. London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman and John Taylor, 1835–1844; 1852 edition
- Remains Literary and Theological, ed. J. J. S. Perowne. 3 vols. London: Daldy, Isbister, 1877–78 (Vols. 1–2: Charges, 1877;Vol. 3: Essays, speeches, sermons, etc., 1878.)
See also
References
- ^ Brinkley 1976, p. 131.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Chisholm 1911, p. 851.
- ^ "Thirlwall, Connop (THRL814C)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ Kirkwood 1994, p. 248.
- ^ Brinkley 1976, p. 136.
- ^ Brinkley 1976, p. 140.
- ^ dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.122
Sources
- Brinkley, Richard (1976). "Connop Thirlwall, Bishop of St David's" (PDF). Ceredigion. 7 (2): 131–51. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thirlwall, Connop". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 851–852. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Clark, John Willis (1898). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 56. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- Clark, J. W.; Matthew, H. C. G. "Thirlwall, (Newell) Connop (1797–1875)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27185. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Cousin, John William (1910), "Thirwall, Connop", A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature, London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource
- Kirkwood, Gordon MacDonald (1994). A Study of Sophoclean Drama. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-8241-0.