Treadway Russell Nash
Treadway Russell Nash | |
---|---|
Beveré , Worcestershire | |
Occupation(s) | Clergyman, Worcestershire antiquarian |
Treadway Russell Nash (24 June 1724[1] – 26 January 1811[2][3]) was an English clergyman, now known as an early historian of Worcestershire and the author of Collections for the History of Worcestershire,[4] an important source document for Worcestershire county histories. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.
Early life
Treadway Russell Nash was born on 24 June 1724 born at Clerkenleap, in
He was educated from the age of twelve at King's School, Worcester, and became a scholar at Worcester College, Oxford aged fifteen. In March 1749, he accompanied his brother on a trip to the continent, to aid Richard's health. They visited Paris for about six weeks, before spending the summer "on the banks of the Loire".[1] They then visited "Bourdeaux, Thoulouse, Montpelier, Marseilles, Leghorn, Florence, Rome, Naples, Bologna, Venice, Padua, Verona, Milan, Lyons, and again Paris"; such expeditions are often known as the Grand Tour.
On his return in late summer 1751, Nash took up a post as Vicar of Eynsham through his friend and future brother-in-law, John Martin. He also had an income as a tutor at Oxford. He took his Doctor of Divinity degree and left Oxford, having "gone out grand compounder", following the death of his brother. He also left his benefice at Eynsham in 1757. While at Oxford he had proposed a road from there to Witney (now the A40 and B4022), and also stood for Parliament.
Nash married Margaret Martin in 1758, the daughter of John Martin of
In the year 1759, as the furniture, &c. of Dr. Nash were being conveyed from London, an accident, as extraordinary as it was unfortunate, occurred. A bottle of aqua-fortis, which was in the waggon, being ill corked, opened, and the spirit running over some deal boxes which took fire and set the whole in a flame, property to the amount of 2000 l.[pounds] belonging to Dr. Nash, was unfortunately burnt, besides a good collection of books, and a very curious and valuable selection of drawings and prints, which he and his brother had purchased in France and Italy.[6]
Work as an antiquary
In 1773, Nash determined that someone should collect together papers and records relating to Worcestershire. He later related that:
Above twenty years ago, coming into possession of a considerable real estate in this my native county, I determined, as far as was consistent with a proper attention to my own affairs, to serve my countrymen and neighbours by every means in my power. Thus, I became a mere provincial man, confining my ambition within the ancient province of
Wiccia, now commonly known by the name of Worcestershire. I had oftentimes wished that someone would write the history and antiquities of the county. I proposed the undertaking to several persons, offering them all the assistance in my power. I invited the Society of Antiquaries to choose a proper person, promising to open a subscription with three or four hundred pounds. Failing in success in all my applications, I offered my own shoulders, however unequal to the burthen, reflecting that though very little had been published, yet this work was in some degree made easy, because materials had been collecting for near 200 years.[7]
The reception to his work can be seen to be generally very positive. However, they were primarily source material, rather than a true history:
Dr Nash's volumes are indeed worthy of high praise, and contain materials for a valuable history, —they preserve and render accessible many important documents, but can be considered only as a work of reference. Like a sinuous but unnavigable river wandering through a great extent of country, that would form an excellent reservoir to a canal, so the Doctor's work, though itself unreadable, might be made the source of a very interesting volume.[8]
Republishing Samuel Butler
Nash produced a volume with a "literary memoir" of
Death and legacy
Nash died in 1811, at his house in
At his death, he left around £60,000, excluding his estate. He left his artistic collection from his travels in Italy and France to Worcester College, where it remains. His personal papers are at Eastnor Castle, except for his personalised volumes of the Collections, which had been sold and subsequently lost in a fire.[11]
Works
- Nash, Treadway (1781), Collections for the History of Worcestershire, London: John Nichols, OL 13812281M
- Butler, Samuel (1869), Hudibras, New York: D. Appleton, ] Nash
References
- ^ OL 7116906Mpage 459
- ^ Chambers, p464
- ^ Burke's peerage
- OL 13812281M
- ^ Amphlett, John (1894). An Index to Dr. Nash's Collections for the history of Worcestershire, Part II, p. viii–ix.
- ^ Chambers, p. 462
- ^ Quoted by Nichols, Literary Anecdotes, in Chambers, p. 464.
- ^ The Topography of Worcestershire, G. Am On and Spina, G. E. in The Analyst: a quarterly journal of science, literature, natural history, and the fine arts, Volume 1, Simpkin & Marshall, 1834.
- ^ See the multiple reprints listed at the Open Library
- ^ "Obituary; with Anecdotes of remarkable persons". The Gentleman's Magazine. 81 (6). London: 603. June 1811. Retrieved 5 February 2011.
- ^ Brian S. Smith, ‘Nash, Treadway Russell (1725–1811)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005, accessed 6 Feb 2011
Further reading
- Amphlett, John; Nash, Treadway Russell (1894), An Index to Dr. Nash's Collections for the History of Worcestershire, Part I: Index of Names of Persons, Worcestershire Historical Society
- Amphlett, John; Nash, Treadway Russell (1894), An Index to Dr. Nash's Collections for the History of Worcestershire, Part II: Life of Treadway Russell Nash; Index of Names of Places; Index of Engravings, Arms, Pedigrees, &c.; Index to Domesday, Worcestershire Historical Society
- Cox, D. C. (1993), This Foolish Business, [s.l.]: Worcestershire Historical Society, OL 16261364M
- Smith, Brian S. (2005) [2004]. "Nash, Treadway Russell (1725–1811)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/19793. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.)
- Jefferies, F. (February 1811), "Obituary", The Gentleman's Magazine, 81 (2), London: 190
- "Memoirs of the late Rev Dr Nash", The Gentleman's Magazine, 81 (4), London: 392–395, April 1811
External links
Media related to Treadway Russell Nash at Wikimedia Commons