Nathaniel Hooke
Encyclopedia
Nathaniel Hooke was an English historian.
to have studied with Alexander Pope
at Twyford School
, and to have formed a lifelong friendship there.
He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn
6 February 1702. Caught up in the South Sea Bubble, he sought patronage. He dedicated to the Earl of Oxford
a translation from the French of Andrew Michael Ramsay
's ‘Life of Fénelon’ (published in 1723), London. Other patrons were Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont
, Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
, François Fénelon
, Pope, George Cheyne, and William King, principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford.
When Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
required help with her memoirs, Hooke was recommended to her. He accordingly waited upon the aged duchess while she was still in bed; on his arrival she caused herself to be lifted up, and continued speaking for six hours without notes. Hooke resided in the house until the completion of the work, which appeared in 1742 under the title of An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough from her first coming to Court to the year 1710. Hooke received from the duchess £5,000. During his time with her she commissioned him to negotiate with Pope for the suppression, for payment of £3,000, of the character of ‘Atossa’ in his ‘Epistles’. Owen Ruffhead stated (Life of Pope) that the duchess took a sudden dislike to Hooke because he attempted to convert her to Catholicism. John Whiston, however, asserted that at her death she left £500 a year to Hooke and David Mallet
to write the history of the late Duke.
It was Hooke who brought a Catholic priest to take Pope's confession on his deathbed. Hooke was also friendly with Martha Blount
, who left a legacy to Miss Elizabeth Hooke. Hooke died at Cookham
, Berkshire
, on 19 July 1763, and was buried in Hedsor
churchyard, where a tablet with a Latin inscription to his memory was put up at the expense of his friend Frederick Irby, 2nd Baron Boston, in 1801.
described Hooke as ‘a mystic and quietist, and a warm disciple of Fénelon.’ Pope suggested that Hooke and Conyers Middleton
were the only two contemporary prose-writers whose works were worth consulting by an English lexicographer.
Hooke's ‘Roman History, from the Building of Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth’ (4 vols., London, 1738–1771, 4to), suggested itself to him while he was preparing an index to the English translation of François Catrou
and Pierre Julien Rouille's ‘Roman History.’ The first volume was dedicated to Pope, and introduced by ‘Remarks on the History of the Seven Roman Kings, occasioned by Sir Isaac Newton's Objections to the supposed 244 years of the Royal State of Rome.’ The second volume is dedicated to the Earl of Marchmont, and to it are annexed the Capitoline marbles, or consular calendars, discovered at Rome during the pontificate of Pope
Paul III in 1545. The third volume was printed under Hooke's inspection, but was not published until 1764, after his death. The fourth volume was published in 1771—it is believed by Dr. Gilbert Stuart
. The whole work was frequently reprinted; the latest edition, in 6 vols. appeared in 1830.
Other works are:
Hooke revised Thomas Townsend
's translation of Ribadeneyra's ‘History of the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards,’ London, 1753.
and vicar of Leek, Yorkshire (died 1791); and Luke Joseph Hooke
. His daughter, Jane Mary Hooke, died on 28 April 1793, and was buried in Hedsor churchyard.
Life
He was the eldest son of John Hooke, serjeant-at-law, and nephew of Nathaniel Hooke the Jacobite politician. He is thought by John KirkJohn Kirk (antiquarian)
-Life:He was son of William Kirk and his wife Mary Fielding, and was born at Ruckley, near Acton Burnell, Shropshire, on 13 April 1760. At ten years of age he was sent to Sedgley Park School, Staffordshire. He was admitted into the English College, Rome on 5 June 1773, a few months before the...
to have studied with Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
at Twyford School
Twyford School
Twyford School is a co-educational, independent, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire.-History:Twyford claims to be the oldest preparatory school in the United Kingdom....
, and to have formed a lifelong friendship there.
He was admitted to Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
6 February 1702. Caught up in the South Sea Bubble, he sought patronage. He dedicated to the Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141 until the death of the 20th earl in 1703. The Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of master or Lord Great Chamberlain from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625...
a translation from the French of Andrew Michael Ramsay
Andrew Michael Ramsay
Andrew Michael Ramsay , commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet in the Jacobite Peerage....
's ‘Life of Fénelon’ (published in 1723), London. Other patrons were Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont
Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont
Hugh Hume-Campbell, 3rd Earl of Marchmont PC FRS , styled Lord Polwarth between 1724 and 1740, was a Scottish politician....
, Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow
Richard Onslow, 1st Baron Onslow PC was a British Whig Member of Parliament, known as Sir Richard Onslow, 2nd Baronet from 1688 until 1716. He served as the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1708 until 1710 and as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1714 until 1715...
, François Fénelon
François Fénelon
François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, more commonly known as François Fénelon , was a French Roman Catholic archbishop, theologian, poet and writer...
, Pope, George Cheyne, and William King, principal of St. Mary Hall, Oxford.
When Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough
Sarah Churchill , Duchess of Marlborough rose to be one of the most influential women in British history as a result of her close friendship with Queen Anne of Great Britain.Sarah's friendship and influence with Princess Anne was widely known, and leading public figures...
required help with her memoirs, Hooke was recommended to her. He accordingly waited upon the aged duchess while she was still in bed; on his arrival she caused herself to be lifted up, and continued speaking for six hours without notes. Hooke resided in the house until the completion of the work, which appeared in 1742 under the title of An Account of the Conduct of the Dowager Duchess of Marlborough from her first coming to Court to the year 1710. Hooke received from the duchess £5,000. During his time with her she commissioned him to negotiate with Pope for the suppression, for payment of £3,000, of the character of ‘Atossa’ in his ‘Epistles’. Owen Ruffhead stated (Life of Pope) that the duchess took a sudden dislike to Hooke because he attempted to convert her to Catholicism. John Whiston, however, asserted that at her death she left £500 a year to Hooke and David Mallet
David Mallet (writer)
David Mallet was a Scottish dramatist.He was educated at the University of Edinburgh, and went to London in 1723 to work as a private tutor...
to write the history of the late Duke.
It was Hooke who brought a Catholic priest to take Pope's confession on his deathbed. Hooke was also friendly with Martha Blount
Martha Blount
Martha Blount was an English woman, a friend of many English literary figures, especially Alexander Pope.-Life:Martha was born 15 June 1690 probably at the family seat, Mapledurham, near Reading. She was educated first at Hammersmith, London, probably at the Roman Catholic convent there, and...
, who left a legacy to Miss Elizabeth Hooke. Hooke died at Cookham
Cookham
Cookham is a village and civil parish in the north-easternmost corner of Berkshire in England, on the River Thames, notable as the home of the artist Stanley Spencer. It lies north of Maidenhead close to the border with Buckinghamshire...
, Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
, on 19 July 1763, and was buried in Hedsor
Hedsor
Hedsor is a small village and civil parish in Wycombe district in Buckinghamshire, England, in the very south of the county, near the River Thames and Bourne End....
churchyard, where a tablet with a Latin inscription to his memory was put up at the expense of his friend Frederick Irby, 2nd Baron Boston, in 1801.
Works
William WarburtonWilliam Warburton
William Warburton was an English critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759.-Life:He was born at Newark, where his father, who belonged to an old Cheshire family, was town clerk. William was educated at Oakham and Newark grammar schools, and in 1714 he was articled to Mr Kirke, an...
described Hooke as ‘a mystic and quietist, and a warm disciple of Fénelon.’ Pope suggested that Hooke and Conyers Middleton
Conyers Middleton
Conyers Middleton was an English clergyman.Middleton was born at Richmond in Yorkshire, and was educated at school in York and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He graduated from the University of Cambridge, took holy orders, and in 1706 obtained a fellowship, which he resigned upon entering into an...
were the only two contemporary prose-writers whose works were worth consulting by an English lexicographer.
Hooke's ‘Roman History, from the Building of Rome to the Ruin of the Commonwealth’ (4 vols., London, 1738–1771, 4to), suggested itself to him while he was preparing an index to the English translation of François Catrou
François Catrou
François Catrou was a French historian, translator, and Jesuit priest.-Life:Catrou was born in Paris, the son of Mathurin Catrou, secretary to Louis XIV. During his college days a marked facility and grace in composition gave promise of his future literary success. At eighteen he entered the...
and Pierre Julien Rouille's ‘Roman History.’ The first volume was dedicated to Pope, and introduced by ‘Remarks on the History of the Seven Roman Kings, occasioned by Sir Isaac Newton's Objections to the supposed 244 years of the Royal State of Rome.’ The second volume is dedicated to the Earl of Marchmont, and to it are annexed the Capitoline marbles, or consular calendars, discovered at Rome during the pontificate of Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
Paul III in 1545. The third volume was printed under Hooke's inspection, but was not published until 1764, after his death. The fourth volume was published in 1771—it is believed by Dr. Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island.Gilbert Stuart is widely considered to be one of America's foremost portraitists...
. The whole work was frequently reprinted; the latest edition, in 6 vols. appeared in 1830.
Other works are:
- ‘Travels of Cyrus, with a Discourse on Mythology,’ London, 1739, translated by Hooke from the French of Andrew Michael RamsayAndrew Michael RamsayAndrew Michael Ramsay , commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet in the Jacobite Peerage....
. - ‘Observations on—I. The Answer of M. l'Abbé de Vertot to the late Earl Stanhope's Inquiry concerning the Senate of Ancient Rome, dated December 1719. II. A Dissertation upon the Constitution of the Roman Senate, by a Gentleman; published in 1743. III. A Treatise on the Roman Senate, by Dr. C. Middleton; published in 1747. IV. An Essay on the Roman Senate, by Dr. T. Chapman; published in 1750,’ London, 1758; dedicated to Speaker Richard Onslow. This work was answered by Edward SpelmanEdward Spelman-Life:He was the son of Charles Yallop of Bowthorp Hall, Norfolk, by his wife Ellen, daughter and heiress of Sir Edward Barkham, bart., of Westacre, Norfolk. Edward's grandfather, Sir Robert Yallop, married Dorothy, daughter of Clement Spelman. Edward, who in later life adopted the surname of...
in an anonymous pamphlet entitled ‘A Short Review on Mr. Hooke's Observations,’ 1758. William Bowyer published ‘An Apology for some of Mr. Hooke's Observations concerning the Roman Senate,’ London, 1758. - ‘Six Letters to a Lady of Quality … upon the subject of Religious Peace and the Foundations of it,’ first printed in ‘The Contrast; or an Antidote against the pernicious Principles disseminated in the Letters of the late Earl of Chesterfield,’ 2 vols., London, 1791, and issued separately in 1816. The manuscript was given by Hooke to the widow of George BerkeleyGeorge BerkeleyGeorge Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
, who presented it to the Rev. Sir Adam Gordon, bart., (1745–1817), the editor of ‘The Contrast.’
Hooke revised Thomas Townsend
Thomas Townsend
Thomas Stewart Townsend was an Irish Anglican bishop in the Church of Ireland in the 19th century. He wasHe became Bishop of Meath in 1850. and died in post in Malaga on 16 September 1852. His Times obituary noted that “by his death the system of national education has lost an earnest...
's translation of Ribadeneyra's ‘History of the Conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards,’ London, 1753.
Family
He left two sons, Thomas Hooke, rector of BirkbyBirkby
Birkby may refer to:*Birkby, Cumbria*Birkby, North Yorkshire*Birkby, West Yorkshire, a suburb of Huddersfield...
and vicar of Leek, Yorkshire (died 1791); and Luke Joseph Hooke
Luke Joseph Hooke
Luke Joseph Hooke was a controversial academic theologian and the son of Nathaniel Hooke the historian....
. His daughter, Jane Mary Hooke, died on 28 April 1793, and was buried in Hedsor churchyard.