Thomas Ken
Thomas Ken | |
---|---|
Bishop of Bath and Wells | |
Born | July 1637 Little Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire, England |
Died | 19 March 1711 Longleat, Wiltshire, England |
Venerated in | Anglican Communion |
Major shrine | Church of St John the Baptist, Frome |
Feast |
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Thomas Ken (July 1637 – 19 March 1711) was an English
Early life
Thomas Ken was born in 1637 at Little Berkhampstead, Hertfordshire. His father was Thomas Ken of Furnival's Inn, of the Ken family of Ken Place, in Somerset; his mother was the daughter of little known English poet John Chalkhill. In 1646 Ken's stepsister, Anne, married Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler, a connection which brought Ken under the influence of this gentle and devout man.[1]
In 1652 Ken entered Winchester College, and in 1656 became a student of Hart Hall, Oxford. He gained a fellowship at New College in 1657, and proceeded B.A. in 1661 and M.A. in 1664.[1] He was for some time tutor of his college; but the most characteristic reminiscence of his university life is the mention made by Anthony Wood that in the musical gatherings of the time Thomas Ken of New College, a junior, would be sometimes among them, and sing his part. Ordained in 1662, he successively held the livings of
He remained there for several years, acting as curate in one of the lowest districts, preparing his Manual of Prayers for the use of the Scholars of Winchester College (first published in 1674), and composing hymns.[1] It was at this time that he wrote, primarily for the same body as his prayers, his morning, evening and midnight hymns, the first two of which, beginning "Awake, my soul, and with the sun" and "Glory to Thee, my God, this night", are well known. The latter is often made to begin with the line "All praise to Thee, my God, this night", which is how it appeared in a 1692 pamphlet printed by Richard Smith. However, this publication was likely made without Ken's permission, and subsequent editions over which he had control revert to "Glory to Thee, my God, this night". Both of these hymns end with a doxology beginning "Praise God, from whom all blessings flow," which is widely sung today by itself, often to the tune Old 100th.[3] "Awake, my soul, and with the sun" was included as Hymn 1 in the first edition of Hymns Ancient and Modern, while "Glory to Thee, my God, this night" was Hymn 10.[4]
In 1674 Ken paid a visit to Rome in company with his nephew, the young Isaac Walton (son of Ken's sister Anne and the writer
Ken and Charles II
In 1679, Ken was appointed by
He was once more residing at Winchester in 1683 when Charles came to the city with his slightly disreputable court. His residence was chosen as the home of
The fleet returned in April 1684, and a few months later, upon a vacancy occurring in the see of Bath and Wells, Ken was appointed bishop. It is said that, upon the occurrence of the vacancy, the King, mindful of the spirit he had shown at Winchester, exclaimed, "Where is the good little man that refused his lodging to poor Nell?" and determined that no other should be bishop. The consecration took place at Lambeth on 25 January 1685; and one of Ken's first duties was to attend the death-bed of Charles, where his wise and faithful ministrations won the admiration of everybody except Bishop Burnet.
In this year he published his Exposition on the Church Catechism, perhaps better known by its sub-title, The Practice of Divine Love.
Ken and James II
In 1688, when
The nonjuring schism
With the Glorious Revolution which speedily followed this impolitic trial, new troubles encountered Ken; for, having sworn allegiance to James, he thought himself thereby precluded from taking the oath to William of Orange. Accordingly, he took his place among the non-jurors, and, as he stood firm to his refusal, he was, in August 1691, superseded in his bishopric by Dr Richard Kidder, dean of Peterborough.[1]
From this time he lived mostly in retirement, finding a congenial home with
Lodger at Longleat
When deprived of his see by William and Mary in 1691 after he refused to transfer his oath of allegiance from James, on the grounds that once given, it could not be forsworn, he was given lodgings at Longleat and an £80 annuity by Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth, a friend since Oxford days.[8]
Ken was arrested with several others after the 1696 plot to kill King William;[9] he was released shortly afterwards and worked on ending the schism between the nonjurors and the church.
After Kidder’s death in 1703, Queen Anne invited him to return to his post as Bishop of Bath and Wells; he declined.[10] He took up his robe on only one occasion, the funeral of fellow nonjuror John Kettlewell.[9]
Taking up residence on the top floor at Longleat for a period of some twenty years, he exerted a profound influence upon Thomas Thynne, becoming what some might describe as his conscience. Thynne thus acquired a reputation for good deeds, which he himself regarded as spontaneous enough, but which the friends of his youth were inclined to regard as having been inspired by his devout friend, the Bishop.
An example of such benevolence: In 1707, Thynne, influenced by Ken, founded a grammar school for boys in the nearby market town of Warminster, with 23 free places for local boys. Originally The Lord Weymouth School (and known locally as The Latin School), in 1973 this school merged with St Monica's School for Girls to become the co-educational Warminster School,[8] which continues to this day. Ken is remembered at Warminster School by the naming of a competitive 'house' after him.[11]
Notable too is the fact that a portion of the West Wing of Longleat was transformed into a chapel for the household's daily worship. Not that its interior ever matched the architectural finery of equivalent chapels in other stately homes, but it was in any case evidence of the devout spirit which prevailed at Longleat over that particular historical period.
While living in the house at Longleat, Ken wrote many of his famous hymns,
Reputation and legacy
Although Ken wrote much poetry, besides his hymns, he cannot be called a great poet; but he had that fine combination of spiritual insight and feeling with poetic taste which marks all great hymn-writers. As a hymn-writer he has had few equals in England; he wrote Praise God from whom all blessings flow.[14][15] It can scarcely be said that even John Keble, though possessed of much rarer poetic gifts, surpassed him in his own sphere. In his own day he took high rank as a pulpit orator, and even royalty had to beg for a seat amongst his audiences; but his sermons are now forgotten. He lives in history, apart from his three hymns, mainly as a man of unstained purity and invincible fidelity to conscience, weak only in a certain narrowness of view. As an ecclesiastic he was a High Churchman of the old school.
Ken's poetical works were published in collected form in four volumes by W. Hawkins, his relative and executor, in 1721; his prose works were issued in 1838 in one volume, under the editorship of J. T. Round. A brief memoir was prefixed by Hawkins to a selection from Ken's works which he published in 1713; and a life, in two volumes, by the
He was buried at the
Thomas Ken is
Writings
- A Manual of Prayer, (Winchester c. 1665) BiblioBazaar (2009) ISBN 978-1-110-03072-9
In literature
Thomas Ken appears in a number of novels:
- Iain Pears' An Instance of the Fingerpost (1997) includes Ken as a young fellow of New College, Oxford, desperate to be appointed to a parish through the college's patronage, so he can afford to marry.
- Robert Neill's historical novel Lillibullero (1975) depicts Ken as a devout and humane cleric attempting unsuccessfully to dissuade King James II from harsh retributions against the participants of the Monmouth Rebellion.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hunt 1892.
- ISBN 0-906328-31-4
- ^ The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (1940). New York: Church Pension Fund. # 139.
- ^ Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861). London: Novello & Co.
- ^ Southey, Robert (1812). "Bishop Kenn" Omniana, Longman London
- ^ Baptists.net website, Biographical Sketches Of Thomas Ken, article dated May 1, 2023
- ^ JWC Wand The High Church Schism, The Faith Press, 1951.
- ^ a b East Winchester Benefice website, Thomas Ken (1637-1711), transcript of talk by Elizabeth Proudman, page 11
- ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Ken, Thomas dated September 23, 2004
- ^ Bishops Palace website, Thomas Ken. Bishop 1685 - 1691., article by Brian Roberts-Wray dated February 2017
- ^ Warminster School website, House System: Ken
- ^ Praise website, Ken, Thomas
- ^ Book Owners website, Thomas Ken 1637-1711
- ^ The Hymnal of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (1940). New York: Church Pension Fund. #139.
- ^ Baptist Hymn Book (1962). Psalms and Hymn Trust, London.
- ^ Kenn Village website, Thomas Ken, (1637-1711), Bishop of Bath and Wells.
- ^ "The Calendar". The Church of England. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
- ^ Common Worship: Services and Prayers for the Church of England (2000). London: Church House Publishing. p. 10.
- ^ The Book of Common Prayer (1979). The Episcopal Church. New York: Church Publishing. p. 21.
- ^ Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2018). The Episcopal Church. New York: Church Publishing. p. 143.
Sources
- Hunt, William (1892). "Ken, Thomas". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 30. Smith, Elder & Co.
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ken, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 726–727. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the