William Holmes (academic)
Encyclopedia
William Holmes D.D. (5 April 1689 – 4 April 1748) was an English
academic, Vice-Chancellor and Regius Professor of Modern History
of the University of Oxford
.
Holmes was born on 5 April 1689 in the parish of St Swithin, in the City of London
, the son of Thomas and Margaret Holmes of London
, England
. He began his education at Merchant Taylors' School
, London, on 12 September 1701 and went up to St John's College, Oxford
, on 11 June 1707, matriculating
on 2 July. In 1710, he became a Fellow and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
degree on 16 May 1711, and was awarded the Master of Arts degree on 9 April 1715.
In 1721, Holmes was appointed as a proctor of the University. He took the Bachelor of Divinity
degree on 13 April 1722 and the Doctorate of Divinity on 5 March 1725. Holmes held two college livings; between 1725 and 1726 that of North Leigh
, near Oxford
, and of Henbury
, Gloucestershire
from 1726 to 1728. He was elected President of St John's College on 3 June 1728. Holmes became the Rector of Boxwell
, Gloucestershire
, on 24 September and was given the college living of Hanborough, a few miles north of Long Hanborough
, Oxfordshire
, and between 1731 and 1737, he was proctor for the clergy of the diocese of Oxford
in convocation
.
Holmes was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University between 1732 and 1735, and in this post, was appealed to by John Wesley
about the concerns of the critics of the Holy Club. In 1734, he became a King's Chaplain
. In his role as Vice-Chancellor, Holmes presented addresses from the university on the marriage of Anne
, Princess Royal
to William
, Prince of Orange
, the Prince having been under Holmes's care whilst in Oxford.
In 1736, Holmes was appointed as the Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History
, a post he held until 1742. Whilst President of St John's, Holmes had the last letter of Sir Thomas White
, the founder of college, printed to give every scholar on entering college, urging the fellows to peacefully with each other and suggests they "take a coppye of yt for my sake".
Holmes was ridiculed as "time-serving" in an imitation of the first satire of Juvenal
, printed in London in 1740, and in a letter purporting to be written from Oxford, published in British Champions, or, The Impartial Advertizer on 10 January, 1743, which printed "that ornament of learning and politeness H—es" is an example of those that "steer judiciously between all extremes". Holmes was the first president of St John's to be loyal to the House of Hanover
.
Holmes was supportive of sound learning and met with Thomas Hearne
, who wished the University to plan the printing of Oxford manuscripts. On 9 July 1733, acting as Vice-Chancellor he revived the ceremony of "the act", which had been discontinued, and invited George Frideric Handel
to play before and after the ceremony. However, his allowing Handel to perform inside the Sheldonian Theatre
on several occasions outside of University ceremonies and to charge 5 shilling
s. for admission, offended Hearne and other traditionalists. Hearne stated that "Handel and (his lousy crew) a great number of foreign fiddlers". At another time, Holmes refused a company of players from visiting Oxford.
Holmes was nominated by George II
to the deanery of Exeter Cathedral
on 4 June 1742. Only one work is ascribed to Holmes, The Country Parson's Advice to his Parishioners … of the Younger Sort, which was an anonymous publication of 1742. On his death on 4 April 1748, Holmes left an estate of two farms and £200 a year to St John's College. Holmes was buried in the college chapel, and on the instruction of his wife, Sarah, a monument to him was erected in the college chapel.
He was from 1728 to 1748 the President of St John's College, Oxford.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
academic, Vice-Chancellor and Regius Professor of Modern History
Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford)
The Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford is an old-established professorial position. The first appointment was made in 1724...
of the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
.
Holmes was born on 5 April 1689 in the parish of St Swithin, in the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, the son of Thomas and Margaret Holmes of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He began his education at Merchant Taylors' School
Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....
, London, on 12 September 1701 and went up to St John's College, Oxford
St John's College, Oxford
__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...
, on 11 June 1707, matriculating
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
on 2 July. In 1710, he became a Fellow and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree on 16 May 1711, and was awarded the Master of Arts degree on 9 April 1715.
In 1721, Holmes was appointed as a proctor of the University. He took the Bachelor of Divinity
Bachelor of Divinity
In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity is usually an undergraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology or, rarely, religious studies....
degree on 13 April 1722 and the Doctorate of Divinity on 5 March 1725. Holmes held two college livings; between 1725 and 1726 that of North Leigh
North Leigh
North Leigh is a village and civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of East End, and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote.-Early history:...
, near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and of Henbury
Henbury
Henbury is a suburb of Bristol, England, approximately 5 mi northwest of the city centre. It was formerly a village in Gloucestershire and is now bordered by Westbury-on-Trym to the south; Brentry to the east and the Blaise Castle estate Blaise Hamlet and Lawrence Weston to the west...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
from 1726 to 1728. He was elected President of St John's College on 3 June 1728. Holmes became the Rector of Boxwell
Boxwell
Boxwell is a hamlet in Gloucestershire, England, near the village of Leighterton...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, on 24 September and was given the college living of Hanborough, a few miles north of Long Hanborough
Long Hanborough
Long Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish, about northeast of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England.-History:The Church of England parish church was built in 1893...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and between 1731 and 1737, he was proctor for the clergy of the diocese of Oxford
Diocese of Oxford
-History:The Diocese of Oxford was created in 1541 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.In 1836 the Archdeaconry of Berkshire was transferred from the Diocese of Salisbury to Oxford...
in convocation
Convocation
A Convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose.- University use :....
.
Holmes was Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University between 1732 and 1735, and in this post, was appealed to by John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
about the concerns of the critics of the Holy Club. In 1734, he became a King's Chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
. In his role as Vice-Chancellor, Holmes presented addresses from the university on the marriage of Anne
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange
Anne, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange was the second child and eldest daughter of King George II of Great Britain and his consort, Caroline of Ansbach. She was the spouse of William IV, Prince of Orange, the first hereditary stadtholder of the Netherlands...
, Princess Royal
Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily awarded by a British monarch to his or her eldest daughter. The style is held for life, so a princess cannot be given the style during the lifetime of another Princess Royal...
to William
William IV, Prince of Orange
William IV, Prince of Orange-Nassau , born Willem Karel Hendrik Friso, was the first hereditary stadtholder of the Netherlands.-Early life:...
, Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange
Prince of Orange is a title of nobility, originally associated with the Principality of Orange, in what is now southern France. In French it is la Principauté d'Orange....
, the Prince having been under Holmes's care whilst in Oxford.
In 1736, Holmes was appointed as the Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History
Regius Professor of Modern History (Oxford)
The Regius Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford is an old-established professorial position. The first appointment was made in 1724...
, a post he held until 1742. Whilst President of St John's, Holmes had the last letter of Sir Thomas White
Thomas White (merchant)
Sir Thomas White was an English cloth merchant, civic benefactor and founder of St John's College, Oxford.He was born in Reading, Berkshire, the son of William White, a clothier of Reading, and his wife, Mary, daughter of Henry Kibblewhite of South Fawley, also in Berkshire. He was brought up in...
, the founder of college, printed to give every scholar on entering college, urging the fellows to peacefully with each other and suggests they "take a coppye of yt for my sake".
Holmes was ridiculed as "time-serving" in an imitation of the first satire of Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
, printed in London in 1740, and in a letter purporting to be written from Oxford, published in British Champions, or, The Impartial Advertizer on 10 January, 1743, which printed "that ornament of learning and politeness H—es" is an example of those that "steer judiciously between all extremes". Holmes was the first president of St John's to be loyal to the House of Hanover
House of Hanover
The House of Hanover is a deposed German royal dynasty which has ruled the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , the Kingdom of Hanover, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Kingdom of Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland...
.
Holmes was supportive of sound learning and met with Thomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
, who wished the University to plan the printing of Oxford manuscripts. On 9 July 1733, acting as Vice-Chancellor he revived the ceremony of "the act", which had been discontinued, and invited George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
to play before and after the ceremony. However, his allowing Handel to perform inside the Sheldonian Theatre
Sheldonian Theatre
The Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1668 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the university at the time and the project's main financial backer...
on several occasions outside of University ceremonies and to charge 5 shilling
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
s. for admission, offended Hearne and other traditionalists. Hearne stated that "Handel and (his lousy crew) a great number of foreign fiddlers". At another time, Holmes refused a company of players from visiting Oxford.
Holmes was nominated by George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
to the deanery of Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral
Exeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....
on 4 June 1742. Only one work is ascribed to Holmes, The Country Parson's Advice to his Parishioners … of the Younger Sort, which was an anonymous publication of 1742. On his death on 4 April 1748, Holmes left an estate of two farms and £200 a year to St John's College. Holmes was buried in the college chapel, and on the instruction of his wife, Sarah, a monument to him was erected in the college chapel.
He was from 1728 to 1748 the President of St John's College, Oxford.