Christopher Wordsworth

From Textus Receptus

Christopher Wordsworth, undated drawing by an anonymous artist.

Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 1807 – 20 March 1885) was an English bishop and man of letters.

Life

Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of the Rev. Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity and a nephew of the poet William Wordsworth. He was the younger brother of the classical scholar John Wordsworth and Charles Wordsworth, Bishop of Saint Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane. He was educated at Winchester and Trinity, Cambridge.^[1] Like his brother Charles, he was distinguished as an athlete as well as for scholarship. He won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for poetry in 1827 and 1828.^[2]

He became senior classic, and was elected a fellow and tutor of Trinity in 1830; shortly afterwards he took holy orders. He went for a tour in Greece in 1832-1833, and published various works on its topography and archaeology, the most famous of which is "Wordsworth's" Greece (1839). In 1836 he became Public Orator at Cambridge, and in the same year was appointed Headmaster of Harrow, a post he resigned in 1844. In 1844 Sir Robert Peel appointed him as a Canon of Westminster^[3] (1844–1869). He was Vicar of Stanford in the Vale, Berkshire (1850–1869) and Archdeacon of Westminster (1864–1869). In 1869 Benjamin Disraeli appointed him Bishop of Lincoln which he retained until his death in 1885.^[3]

He was a man of fine character, with a high ideal of ecclesiastical duty, and he spent his money generously on church objects.

Works

As a scholar he is best known for his edition of the Greek New Testament (1856–1860), and the Old Testament (1864–1870), with commentaries; but his writings were many in number, and included a volume of devotional verse, The Holy Year (1862), Church History up to A.D. 451 (1881–1883), and Memoirs of his uncle, William Wordsworth (1851), to whom he was literary executor. His Inscriptiones Pompeianae (1837) was an important contribution to epigraphy. He also wrote several hymns (Hymns Ancient and Modern New Standard contains seven) of which perhaps the best known is the Easter hymn 'Alleluia, Alleluia, hearts to heaven and voices raise'.

The New Testament ... in the Original Greek: With Notes by C. Wordsworth. [With] an Index to the Introductions and Notes, by John Twycross,<ref>Scrivener A plain introduction to the criticism of the New Testament 1861 p150 notes"John Twycross, of the Charter House, re-collated the whole manuscript in 1858". The death of Rev. John Twycross MA Dublin aged 72 is recorded in The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 224 1868 p260</ref> 2 Vols.

Books

Athens and Attica, 1836
Ancient Writings Copied from the Walls of Pompeii, 1837
Greece, Pictoral, Descriptive, and Historical, 1839
Theophilus Anglicanus, 1843
On the Canon of the Scriptures, 1848
Lectures on the Apocalypse, 1849
Memoirs of William Wordsworth, 1851
Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1856–70
The Holy Year; or Hymns for Sundays and Holydays Throughout the Year, and for Other Occasions, 1863
Church History, 1881–83

Hymns

Alleluia! Alleluia! Hearts to Heaven and Voices Raise
Arm These Thy Soldiers, Mighty Lord
Father of All, from Land and Sea
Gracious Spirit, Holy Ghost
Hallelujah! Christ Is Risen
Hark! the Sound of Holy Voices
Heav’nly Father, Send Thy Blessing
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
Lord, Be Thy Word My Rule
O Day of Rest and Gladness
O Lord of Heaven and Earth and Sea
O Lord, Our Strength in Weakness
See, the Conqueror Mounts in Triumph
Sing, O Sing, This Blessed Morn
Songs of Thankfulness and Praise
The Day Is Gently Sinking to a Close
The Grave Itself a Garden Is

Family

In 1838 Wordsworth married Susanna Hartley Frere (d. 1884) and had seven children. The elder son, John (1843–1911), was Bishop of Salisbury, founder of Bishop Wordsworth's School, Salisbury, and author of Fragments of Early Latin (1874); the eldest daughter, Elizabeth (1840–1932), was the founder (in 1878) of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and its first principal in 1879. His daughter Dora married Edward Tucker Leeke, Canon and sub-dean of Lincoln Cathedral. His younger son Christopher (1848–1938) was a noted liturgical scholar.

His Life, by J. H. Overton and Elizabeth Wordsworth, was published in 1888.

References

1. Venn, J.; Venn, J. A., eds. (1922–1958). "Christopher Wordsworth". Alumni Cantabrigienses (10 vols) (online ed.). Cambridge University Press.
2. University of Cambridge (1859) (PDF). A Complete Collection of the English Poems which Have Obtained the Chancellor's Gold Medal in the University of Cambridge. Cambridge: W. Metcalfe. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
3. "Studies In Familiar Hymns: First Series" by Dr. Louis Benson 1903
4. Scrivener A plain introduction to the criticism of the New Testament 1861 p150 notes"John Twycross, of the Charter House, re-collated the whole manuscript in 1858". The death of Rev. John Twycross ^[4] MA Dublin aged 72 is recorded in The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 224 1868 p260

External links

Christopher Wordsworth
The Peerage: Rt. Rev. Christopher Wordsworth

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