Thomas Rutherforth
Encyclopedia
Thomas Rutherforth (1712–1771) was an English churchman and academic, Regius Professor of Divinity
at Cambridge from 1745, and Archdeacon of Essex from 1752.
, Cambridgeshire
, an antiquarian who made collections for a county history. He was born at Papworth St. Agnes, Cambridgeshire, on 3 October 1712, received his education at Huntingdon school under Mr. Matthews, and was admitted a sizar of St John's College, Cambridge
, 6 April 1726. He proceeded B.A. in 1729, and commenced M.A. in 1733; he served the office of junior taxor or moderator in the schools in 1736, and graduated B.D. in 1740.
On 28 January 1742 he was elected a member of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, and on 27 January 1743 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He taught physical science privately at Cambridge, and issued in 1743 Ordo Institutionum Physicarum. In 1745 he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and created D.D.
He became chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales
, and afterwards to the dowager Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
. He also became rector of Shenfield
, Essex
, and was instituted to the rectory of Barley, Hertfordshire
, 13 April 1751. On 28 November 1752 he was presented to the archdeaconry of Essex.
He died in the house of his wife's brother, Sir Anthony Abdy
, on 5 October 1771, and was buried in the chancel of Barley church; a memorial slab placed over his tomb was removed in 1871 to the west wall of the south aisle.
's description of the instrument used to renew the Vestal fire, Rutherforth published:
, Essex, and died on 14 October 1798.
Attribution
Regius Professor of Divinity
The Regius Professorship of Divinity is one of the oldest and most prestigious of the professorships at the University of Oxford and at the University of Cambridge.Both chairs were founded by Henry VIII...
at Cambridge from 1745, and Archdeacon of Essex from 1752.
Life
He was the son of Thomas Rutherforth, rector of Papworth EverardPapworth Everard
Papworth Everard is a village in Cambridgeshire, England. It lies ten miles west of Cambridge and six miles south of Huntingdon, having along its centre Ermine Street, the old North Road, the Roman highway that for centuries served as a major artery from London to York, which is now the A1198...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, an antiquarian who made collections for a county history. He was born at Papworth St. Agnes, Cambridgeshire, on 3 October 1712, received his education at Huntingdon school under Mr. Matthews, and was admitted a sizar of St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, 6 April 1726. He proceeded B.A. in 1729, and commenced M.A. in 1733; he served the office of junior taxor or moderator in the schools in 1736, and graduated B.D. in 1740.
On 28 January 1742 he was elected a member of the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, and on 27 January 1743 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He taught physical science privately at Cambridge, and issued in 1743 Ordo Institutionum Physicarum. In 1745 he was appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge, and created D.D.
He became chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
, and afterwards to the dowager Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Princess of Wales between 1736 and 1751, and Dowager Princess of Wales thereafter. She was one of only three Princesses of Wales who never became queen consort...
. He also became rector of Shenfield
Shenfield
Shenfield is a former village and now an outer suburb of Brentwood in the borough of the same name in Essex, England.-History:The name originates from the Anglo-Saxon Chenefield, meaning 'good lands'....
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, and was instituted to the rectory of Barley, Hertfordshire
Barley, Hertfordshire
Barley is a village and civil parish in the district of North Hertfordshire, England. According to the 2001 census, it has a population of 659. The place-name refers to a lea or meadow and not to the grain-producing plant...
, 13 April 1751. On 28 November 1752 he was presented to the archdeaconry of Essex.
He died in the house of his wife's brother, Sir Anthony Abdy
Sir Anthony Abdy, 5th Baronet
Sir Anthony Thomas Abdy, 5th Baronet KC was a British barrister and Whig politician.-Background and education:He was the eldest son of Sir William Abdy, 4th Baronet and his wife Mary Stotherd, daughter of Philip Stotherd. Abdy was educated at Felsted School and went then to St John's College,...
, on 5 October 1771, and was buried in the chancel of Barley church; a memorial slab placed over his tomb was removed in 1871 to the west wall of the south aisle.
Works
Rutherforth was "at the heart of Cambridge latitudinarianism". His dissertation for D.D., concerning the sacrifice of Isaac as a type of Christ's death, was published in Latin, and elicited a reply from Joseph Edwards, M.A. Besides sermons, tracts, charges, and a paper read before the Gentlemen's Society at Spalding, on PlutarchPlutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's description of the instrument used to renew the Vestal fire, Rutherforth published:
- ‘An Essay on the Nature and Obligations of Virtue,’ Cambridge, 1744. Thomas ChubbThomas ChubbThomas Chubb was an English lay Deist writer, born near Salisbury.Chubb regarded Christ as a divine teacher, but held reason to be sovereign in matters of religion, questioned religions' morality, yet was on rational grounds a defender of Christianity...
attacked this in The Ground and Foundation of Morality Considered (1745). Catherine Cockburn also wrote a confutation, which William WarburtonWilliam WarburtonWilliam 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...
published with a preface of his own as ‘Remarks upon … Dr. Rutherforth's Essay … in Vindication of the contrary Principles and Reasonings inforced in the Writings of the late Dr. Samuel Clarke,’ 1747. - ‘A System of Natural Philosophy, being a Course of Lectures in Mechanics, Optics, Hydrostatics, and Astronomy,’ 2 vols. Cambridge, 1748.
- ‘A Defence of the Bishop of London's Discourses concerning the use and intent of Prophecy; in a Letter to Dr. Middleton;’ 2nd edit. London, 1750. On behalf of Thomas SherlockThomas SherlockThomas Sherlock was a British divine who served as a Church of England bishop for 33 years. He is also noted in church history as an important contributor to Christian apologetics.-Life:...
. - ‘The Credibility of Miracles defended against the Author of Philosophical Essays,’ Cambridge, 1751. Against David HumeDavid HumeDavid Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist, and essayist, known especially for his philosophical empiricism and skepticism. He was one of the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment...
. - ‘Institutes of Natural Law; being the substance of a Course of Lectures on Grotius de Jure Belli et Pacis,’ 2 vols. Cambridge, 1754–6, 8vo; second American edition, revised, Baltimore, 1832.
- ‘A Letter to … Mr. Kennicott, in which his Defence of the Samaritan Pentateuch is examined, and his second Dissertation on the State of the printed Hebrew Text of the Old Testament is shewn to be in many instances Injudicious and Inaccurate,’ Cambridge, 1761. Benjamin KennicottBenjamin KennicottBenjamin Kennicott was an English churchman and Hebrew scholar.He was born at Totnes, Devon. He succeeded his father as master of a charity school, but the generosity of some friends enabled him to go to Wadham College, Oxford, in 1744, and he distinguished himself in Hebrew and divinity...
published in 1762 an answer, to which Rutherforth retorted in ‘A Second Letter.’ - ‘A Vindication of the Right of Protestant Churches to require the Clergy to subscribe to an established Confession of Faith and Doctrines, in a Charge delivered at a Visitation in July 1766,’ Cambridge [1766]. ‘An Examination’ of this charge ‘by a Clergyman of the Church of England’ (Benjamin DawsonBenjamin DawsonBenjamin Dawson LL.D. was an English minister, initially Presbyterian but then Anglican, and linguist.-Life:The sixth son of Eli Dawson, Presbyterian minister, and brother of the scholar Abraham Dawson, he was born at Halifax...
) reached a fifth edition in 1767. - ‘A Second Vindication of the Right of Protestant Churches,’ &c., Cambridge, 1766. This was also answered anonymously by Dawson.
- ‘A Defence of a Charge concerning Subscriptions, in a Letter to the Author of the Confessional,’ Cambridge, 1767. Against Francis BlackburneFrancis Blackburne (archdeacon)Francis Blackburne was an English Anglican churchman, archdeacon of Cleveland and an activist against the requirement of subscription to the Thirty Nine Articles.-Life:...
, this caused further controversy.
Family
He married Charlotte Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Abdy, 4th Baronet, and left one son, Thomas Abdy Rutherforth, who became rector of Theydon GarnonTheydon Garnon
Theydon Garnon is a village and a civil parish in the Epping Forest District, in the county of Essex, England.The Anglican parish church is dedicated to All Saints.- Transport :...
, Essex, and died on 14 October 1798.
External links
Attribution