John Lewis (antiquarian)
Encyclopedia
Life
Born in the parish of St. Nicholas, BristolBristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, on 29 August 1675, was the eldest son of John Lewis, wine cooper in the city. Francis Lewis, vicar of Worth Matravers
Worth Matravers
Worth Matravers is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.The civil parish stretches...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, was his paternal grandfather. His mother was Mary, eldest daughter of John Eyre, merchant, of Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
. He received his education first under Samuel Conant, rector of Lichet-Matravers, next at Wimborne grammar school, under John Moyle and afterwards under John Russel in the grammar school at Poole. He acted as assistant to Russel, who, after he had moved to Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
, obtained for Lewis admission to the free school of Ratcliff Cross, belonging to the Coopers' Company.
On leaving school Lewis became tutor to the sons of Daniel Wigfall, a Turkey and lead merchant, and afterwards, 30 March 1694, was admitted a batler of Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College, Oxford
Exeter College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth oldest college of the University. The main entrance is on the east side of Turl Street...
, under the tuition of George Verman, a friend of Conant. While at the university he became assistant in the free school of Poole in 1696. After graduating B.A. on 14 October 1697 he returned to Russel at Wapping, and shortly afterwards was ordained deacon.
In April 1698 he became curate of Acrise
Acrise
Acrise is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in Shepway District, Kent, England, about six miles north of Folkestone. The settlement derives its name from Old English, 'Acrise' being a development of the Old English term for "Oak Rise", the parish being on a small hill, still populated with old oak...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, and was collated to the rectory of the parish on 4 Sept. 1699. In 1702, Archbishop Thomas Tenison
Thomas Tenison
Thomas Tenison was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs.-Life:...
having ordered the sequestration of the rectory of Hawkinge
Hawkinge
Hawkinge is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. The original village of Hawkinge is actually just less than a mile due east of the present village centre ; the modern, much larger, village of Hawkinge was formed by the merging of Hawkinge and Uphill...
, near Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
, licensed Lewis to serve the cure, and in 1705 presented him to the vicarage of St. John the Baptist, Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
. The archbishop collated him to the rectory of Saltwood
Saltwood
Saltwood is a village and civil parish in the Shepway District of Kent, England. Within the parish are two other settlements: Pedlinge and Sandling; both being small hamlets.-Geography:...
, with the chapel of Hythe
Hythe
Hythe may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, or to:Placenames in Canada*Hythe, Alberta Placenames in England*Hythe, Essex *Hythe, Hampshire...
, and to the desolate rectory of Eastbridge
Eastbridge
Eastbridge is a village in Suffolk, England. It is located approximately five miles east northeast of Saxmundham. The village is two miles from the North Sea....
in 1706, and subsequently removed him to the vicarage of Minster
Minster
Minster could mean:*Minster *Minster Machine CompanyMinster could also refer to:*Minster, part of Forrabury and Minster*Minster, Ohio*Minster, Swale*Minster-in-Thanet...
, to which he was instituted on 10 March 1709.
Lewis was appointed to preach at the archiepiscopal visitation on 28 May 1712, when his Whiggish and Low Church
Low church
Low church is a term of distinction in the Church of England or other Anglican churches initially designed to be pejorative. During the series of doctrinal and ecclesiastic challenges to the established church in the 16th and 17th centuries, commentators and others began to refer to those groups...
views excited open hostility from his hearers. He commenced M.A. in 1712 as a member of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Corpus Christi College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. It is notable as the only college founded by Cambridge townspeople: it was established in 1352 by the Guilds of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary...
. In 1714 he offended a former friend, John Johnson of Cranbrook, by attacking, in his ‘Bread and Wine in the Holy Eucharist not a proper Material Propitiatory Sacrifice,’ Johnson's ‘Unbloody Sacrifice & Altar Unvailed,’ which presented the high-church position. Archbishop Tenison, Daniel Waterland
Daniel Waterland
Daniel Cosgrove Waterland was an English theologian.Daniel Waterland was born at Walesby Rectory, Lincolnshire, England, and educated in Lincoln and at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated BA in 1703 and MA in 1706...
, and Samuel Bradford
Samuel Bradford
Samuel Bradford was an English churchman and whig, bishop successively of Carlisle and Rochester.-Life:He was the son of William Bradford of London and was born in St. Anne's, Blackfriars. He was educated at St Paul's School; and when the school was closed, owing to the Great Plague and the Great...
approved of Lewis's reply, and when he re-enunciated his views in Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
on 30 January 1717, Archbishop William Wake
William Wake
William Wake was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737.-Life:...
rewarded him with the mastership of Eastbridge Hospital, Canterbury. From this time until his death he engaged on works on biography and topography.
Dying on 16 January 1747, he was buried in the chancel of his church at Minster. He composed more than a thousand sermons, but he ordered his executor to destroy them, ‘lest they might contribute to the laziness of others.’
He married Mary, the youngest daughter of Robert Knowler of Herne
Herne
Herne may refer to:Places in England* Herne, Kent, near the town of Herne Bay* Herne Bay, Kent, seaside town located in southeastern Kent* Herne Common, Kent* Herne Hill in LondonPlaces in Australia* Herne Hill, Victoria...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. She died in 1720, leaving no issue.
Works
Religious biography
Lewis is mainly known as a biographer of John Wyclif, William CaxtonWilliam Caxton
William Caxton was an English merchant, diplomat, writer and printer. As far as is known, he was the first English person to work as a printer and the first to introduce a printing press into England...
, Reginald Pecock
Reginald Pecock
Reginald Pecock was an English prelate, Scholastic, and writer.-Life:Pecock was probably born in Wales, and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford....
, and Bishop John Fisher
John Fisher
Saint John Fisher was an English Roman Catholic scholastic, bishop, cardinal and martyr. He shares his feast day with Saint Thomas More on 22 June in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints and 6 July on the Church of England calendar of saints...
, leaving heavy works of research written with a Protestant slant:
- ‘The History of the Life and Sufferings of … John Wicliffe. … With a Collection of Papers relating to the said History, never before printed,’ Lond. 1720 and 1723; new edit., corrected and enlarged by the author, Oxford, 1820.
- ‘The Life of Mayster Wyllyam Caxton, of the Weald of Kent, the first Printer in England. In which is given an Account of the Rise and Progress of the Art of Prynting in England during his time, till 1493,’ was first published, Lond. 1737. In this work he was assisted by Sir Peter Thompson and Joseph AmesJoseph Ames (author)Joseph Ames was an English bibliographer and antiquary. He wrote an account of printing in England from 1471 to 1600, entitled Typographical Antiquities...
. Most of it was inserted by Thomas Frognall DibdinThomas Frognall DibdinThomas Frognall Dibdin , English bibliographer, born at Calcutta, was the son of Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of Charles Dibdin....
in his edition of Ames's Typographical Antiquities. It was superseded by William BladesWilliam BladesWilliam Blades , English printer and bibliographer, was born at Clapham, London.- Career :In 1840 he was apprenticed to his father's printing business in London, being subsequently taken into partnership. The firm was afterwards known as Blades, East & Blades...
's ‘Biography of Caxton.’ Collections for a history of printing by Lewis, dated 1741, are in Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 20035. - ‘The Life of Reynold Pecocke, Bishop of St. Asaph and Chichester; … being a sequel of the Life of Dr. J. Wiclif, in order to an introduction to the history of the English Reformation,’ appeared in 1744; new edit. Oxford, 1820.
- ‘The Life of Dr. John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. With an Appendix of illustrative Documents and Papers,’ was first printed in 2 vols. in 1855. With an introduction by Thomas Hudson TurnerThomas Hudson TurnerThomas Hudson Turner archaeologist and architectural historian, was born in London of Northumbrian extraction. He was educated at Mr Law’s school in Chelsea and then apprenticed as a printer...
.
Lewis also edited Roper's ‘Life of More,’ 1729, and he left in manuscript lives of Servetus (written in answer to Sir Benjamin Hodges's biography, Lond. 1724, and formerly in Sir Peter Thompson's possession); of John Wallis, 1735; of George Hickes
George Hickes
George Hickes was an English divine and scholar.-Biography:Hickes was born at Newsham, near Thirsk, Yorkshire, in 1642...
, 1744–5; and of John Johnson of Cranbrook. Part of an autobiography by Lewis, which he continued till near his death, is extant in a copy transcribed for Sir Peter Thompson (Brit. Mus. Addit. MS. 28651).
Bible history
Lewis also made contributions to religious history and bibliography. Pursuing his study of Wiclif he published in 1731 ‘The New Testament, translated out of the Latin Vulgat by John Wiclif, S.T.P., about 1378: to which is præfixt a History of the Translations of the Bible and New Testament, &c. into English,’ Lond. The ‘History of Translations’ was the first history of the English Bible since Miles SmithMiles Smith
Miles Smith was a scholar, theologian, and bibliophile.-Life:He attended Corpus Christi College, Oxford, but graduated from Brasenose, in the same University, where he "proved at length an incomparable theologist." In time, he became resident canon of Hereford Cathedral and earned his Doctor of...
wrote in 1611; was issued separately with additions as ‘A Complete History of the several Translations of the Holy Bible and New Testament into English, both in MS. and in print,’ 2nd edit., with large additions, Lond. 1739; 3rd edit., with an appendix drawn from William Newcome
William Newcome
William Newcome was an Englishman and cleric of the Church of Ireland who was appointed to the bishoprics of Dromore , Ossory , Waterford and Lismore , and lastly to the Primatial See of Armagh .-Life:...
's ‘Historical View of English Biblical Translations,’ Lond. 1818.
In 1738 appeared ‘A brief History of the Rise and Progress of Anabaptism in England; to which is prefixed some account of Dr. John Wicliffe, with a Defence of him from the false Charge of his denying Infant Baptism,’ Lond. A ‘Reply’ to the work, by Thomas Crosby, is dated 1738. Lewis pursued the subject in ‘A Vindication of the Ancient Britons and the Pighards of Bohemia from the false accusation of being Anabaptists,’ Lond. 1741. Richard Chilton published ‘Some Observations’ on this work, 1743.
Topography
Lewis's topographical works deal mainly with Kent. They include:- ‘The History and Antiquities, Ecclesiastical and Civil, of the Isle of Tenet in Kent,’ Lond. 1723; 2nd edit., with additions, 2 pts. Lond. 1736.
- ‘The History and Antiquities of the Abbey and Church of Favresham, in Kent, of the adjoining Priory of Davington, and Maison-Dieu of Ospringe, and Parish of Bocton subtus le Bleyne,’ 2 pts. [Lond.] 1727.
- ‘A little Dissertation on the Antiquities of the two ancient Ports of Richborough and Sandwich, by the Isle of Tenet in Kent. Printed verbatim from the original MS.,’ Lond. 1851, being No. 13 of a ‘Series of Tracts on British Topography’ (sixty copies printed).
Richard Gough
Richard Gough (antiquarian)
Richard Gough was an English antiquarian.He was born in London, where his father was a wealthy M.P. and director of the British East India Company. In 1751 he entered Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he began his work on British topography, published in 1768...
ascribed to Lewis ‘The History and Antiquities of the cathedral church of Rochester,’ Lond. 1717; it was by Richard Rawlinson
Richard Rawlinson
Richard Rawlinson FRS was an English clergyman and antiquarian collector of books and manuscripts, which he bequeathed to the Bodleian Library, Oxford.-Life:...
.
Tracts
Lewis wrote many tracts on theological and antiquarian topics. The main ones are:- ‘The Church Catechism explain'd by way of question and answer, and confirm'd by Scripture proofs,’ Lond. 1700, frequently reprinted. It was translated into Irish and Welsh.
- ‘An Apology for the Clergy of the Church of England, in a particular examination of a book [by Matthew Tindal] entituled “The Rights of the Christian Church,” and its second Defence,’ Lond. 1711.
- ‘The Agreement of the Lutheran Churches with the Church of England, shewn from the publick Confessions of the several Churches,’ Lond. 1715.
- ‘Two letters in defence of the English Liturgy and Reformation,’ a reply to Thomas Bisse, 2nd edit., with additions, 2 pts. Lond. 1717. A manuscript history of the English Liturgy by Lewis, dated 1723, once belonged to Edmund Calamy.
- ‘Historical Essay upon the Consecration of Churches,’ Lond. 1719.
- ‘A Specimen of the Errors in the second volume of Collier's “Ecclesiastical History,” being a Vindication of Bishop Burnet's “History of the Reformation,”’ 1724.
- ‘A Dissertation on the Antiquity and Use of Seals in England,’ Lond. 1736.
- ‘A brief Discovery of the Arts of the Popish Protestant Missioners in England, to pave the way for the restitution … of Popery,’ Lond. 1750.
- ‘An Essay towards an account of Bishops suffragan in England’ printed in John NicholsJohn Nichols (printer)John Nichols was an English printer, author and antiquary.-Early life and apprenticeship:He was born in Islington, London to Edward Nichols and Anne Wilmot. On 22 June 1766 he married Anne Cradock daughter of William Cradock...
's Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, 1790, vol. vi. - ‘Of the Books used in Churches and Monasteries here in England before the Reformation,’ printed in John GutchJohn GutchJohn Gutch was an Anglican clergyman and official of the University of Oxford. He was also an antiquarian, with a particular interest in the history of the university.-Life:...
's Collectanea Curiosa, ii. 165 (from Rawl. MS. in the Bodleian, C. 412).
Many of Lewis's tracts remained unprinted. Among Rawlinson's MSS. are: ‘Popish Cruelty exemplified in the persecution of the English Lollards from 1382 to 1507;’ and three tracts on the Eucharist. A catalogue of Lewis's manuscripts sold by Abraham Langford
Abraham Langford
Abraham Langford was an English auctioneer and playwright.-Life:He was born in the parish of St Paul, Covent Garden. As a young man he wrote for the stage, and was responsible, according to the Biographia Dramatica, for an 'entertainment' called 'The Judgement of Paris,' which was produced in 1730...
of Covent Garden, December 1749, is copied with the prices in Addit. MS. 28651, f. 46.
A portrait, engraved by G. White, was prefixed to the ‘History of Thanet,’ (2nd edit.); and a mezzotint print by Vertue to the edition of Wiclif's New Testament.