Augustus Jessopp
Encyclopedia
Augustus Jessopp was an English cleric and writer. He spent periods of time as a school master and then later as a clergyman in Norfolk, England.
Born in Cheshunt
, Hertfordshire
on 20 December 1823, the son of John Sympson Jessopp (c.1780–1851), Barrister-at-Law, and Eliza Bridger Goodrich and was educated at St. John's, Cambridge (B.A. 1848 and M.A. 1851). He took orders in 1848, the same year he married Mary Anne Margaret Cotesworth.
He left with an ordinary degree to undertake the curacy of Papworth
, Cambridgeshire, where he resided till 1854, when he became headmaster of Helston Grammar School. Here he remained until 1859, when he succeeded Dr. Vincent at King Edward's School
at Norwich
, being thus brought into relations with East Anglia, the region he came to write about. His tenure at Norwich, (where George Meredith
's elder son was among his pupils) was uneventful, and from the fact that he seldom, if ever, alludes to schoolmastering in his subsequent writing, it may not have been to his taste. He began work on his historic studies while at Norwich, and became rector of Scarning in 1879. During this period he was awarded a Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity (1870), from Worcester College, Oxford.
The Nineteenth Century
was under the direction of Mr. James Knowles, and Dr. Jessopp's success may be due to this circumstance. His work certainly was what the editor wanted, and for many years his clients abundantly supplied material. Dr. Jessopp's popularity was natural. He wrote well, in a forcible, colloquial style, with earnestness, full of knowledge of his subjects, and helped by boisterous illustrations. Joseph Arch loomed large in the public eye; people wanted to hear what a county parson had to say about the agricultural labourer. He was firmly convinced that things were not going well in the rural parishes, and he was righteously indignant at the condition of the labourer's cottage, and the growing tendency to deprive him of all chance of rising to a higher level, and evil aggravated by the abolition of small farms. He realized also, the dullness of village life, the grinding monotony, and the impossibility of escape, though perhaps he was too prone to assume that these burdens would be as heavy to his neighbours as to himself. His entire picture was unreal, giving the worst rather than the average conditions. He certainly did his best to brighten village life; he was quite free from clerical bigotry, and candidly admits that the stuffy little Ranter's chapel is too often the only place where the religious emotions of the rural poor can be stirred and the yearnings of the soul satisfied. Unfortunately his well-meant efforts came to little largely because he went too late to parish work. His best years had been spent as a schoolmaster.
He was essentially a man of the study, and the "monsters of life's waste" he attacked were too often those he imagined must be the bane of his poorer neighbours—rather than those that really oppressed them. Again, he was not Norfolk born. He never comprehended the inner nature of the hard-grained East Anglians that rates stranger and foe as nearly equivalent. For those reasons, Dr. Jessopp came to cross purposes with his people. He lost his temper sometimes, and wrote about his neighbours in terms some of them resented. Numbers of the Nineteenth Century travelled down to Scarning. When local celebrities recognized their portraits, dancing with stage antics to amuse the rector's town friends, and understood he was getting paid handsomely for the show, the feud waxed bitter.
As early as 1855, Dr. Jessopp issued a reprint of Donne
's Essays in Divinity with notes. In 1897, he wrote a short life of Donne in the Leaders of Religion series. His One Generation of a Norfolk House must have cost him much labour; it is the story of one the Walpoles who became a Jesuit temp. Elizabeth, and it was while he was engaged over it at Mannington Hall, Lord Orford
's seat, that he was favoured by a nocturnal visit from a ghostly ecclesiastic in the library. Much good-humoured banter followed his communication of is experience to the Press, and probably his picturesque statement helped to draw public attention to this Henry Walpole, an unimportant figure and quite undeserving of the toil and research his vates sacer bestowed upon him. In 1879, he published his History of the Diocese of Norwich; in 1885, "The Coming of the Friars and other historical essays," and in 1881 and 1890, Arcady for Better or Worse and The Trials of a Country Parson, his most popular works. In 1890, he edited afresh Bell's edition of the Lives of the Norths.
In August 1884, Dr Jessopp came close to eternal damnation of his soul when he ran foul of the Muggletonians. His article entitled "The Prophet of Walnut Tree Yard" appeared in the August issue of The Nineteenth Century Review. Lodowicke Muggleton
had been born in Walnut Tree Yard, Bishopsgate in 1609. Jessopp's article was written with robust humour, probably because the writer assumed the sect extinct or moribund. The mid-century Chambers' Encyclopaedia would have told him just that. Jessopp felt obliged to apologise, which he did on 20 September 1887. However, it could have been much worse. Until the middle of the century, Muggletonians condemned those who ridiculed them. Sir Walter Scott suffered just this fate.
Dr. Jessopp became a member by incorporation at Worcester College, Oxford
in 1870, and in 1895, became an honorary Fellow of that Society. His college at Cambridge conferred the same honor on him in the same year. In 1890, Oxford appointed him a select preacher, and his handsome presence and his sonorous voice made him an imposing figure in St. Mary's pulpit. In 1895, he became an honorary canon of Norwich, and was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to King Edward from 1902 to 1910.
In 1907, Dr. Jessopp was granted a Civil List pension of £50, in addition to a £100 pension previously granted in recognition of his services to archæology and literature. He resigned his benefice in 1911, and went to live at The Chantry, Norwich. On his removal from Scarning he sold most of his valuable library, and the sale attracted considerable attention. It included a number of letters addressed by George Meredith to Dr. and Mrs. Jessopp, and a number of Meredith first editions with autograph inscriptions of the author.
Jessopp died 12 February 1914, and was buried at Scarning
, Norfolk on 14 February.
Born in Cheshunt
Cheshunt
Cheshunt is a town in Hertfordshire, England with a population of around 52,000 according to the United Kingdom's 2001 Census. It is a dormitory town and part of the Greater London Urban Area and London commuter belt served by Cheshunt railway station...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
on 20 December 1823, the son of John Sympson Jessopp (c.1780–1851), Barrister-at-Law, and Eliza Bridger Goodrich and was educated at St. John's, Cambridge (B.A. 1848 and M.A. 1851). He took orders in 1848, the same year he married Mary Anne Margaret Cotesworth.
He left with an ordinary degree to undertake the curacy of Papworth
Papworth 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, where he resided till 1854, when he became headmaster of Helston Grammar School. Here he remained until 1859, when he succeeded Dr. Vincent at King Edward's School
Norwich School
Norwich School may refer to:*Norwich School of painters*Norwich School , an independent fee-paying school in Norwich, England...
at Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, being thus brought into relations with East Anglia, the region he came to write about. His tenure at Norwich, (where George Meredith
George Meredith
George Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
's elder son was among his pupils) was uneventful, and from the fact that he seldom, if ever, alludes to schoolmastering in his subsequent writing, it may not have been to his taste. He began work on his historic studies while at Norwich, and became rector of Scarning in 1879. During this period he was awarded a Bachelor and Doctor of Divinity (1870), from Worcester College, Oxford.
The Nineteenth Century
Nineteenth Century (periodical)
The Nineteenth Century was a British monthly literary magazine founded in 1877 by Sir James Knowles. Many of the early contributors to The Nineteenth Century were members of the Metaphysical Society. The journal was intended to publish debate by leading intellectuals.In 1900, the title was changed...
was under the direction of Mr. James Knowles, and Dr. Jessopp's success may be due to this circumstance. His work certainly was what the editor wanted, and for many years his clients abundantly supplied material. Dr. Jessopp's popularity was natural. He wrote well, in a forcible, colloquial style, with earnestness, full of knowledge of his subjects, and helped by boisterous illustrations. Joseph Arch loomed large in the public eye; people wanted to hear what a county parson had to say about the agricultural labourer. He was firmly convinced that things were not going well in the rural parishes, and he was righteously indignant at the condition of the labourer's cottage, and the growing tendency to deprive him of all chance of rising to a higher level, and evil aggravated by the abolition of small farms. He realized also, the dullness of village life, the grinding monotony, and the impossibility of escape, though perhaps he was too prone to assume that these burdens would be as heavy to his neighbours as to himself. His entire picture was unreal, giving the worst rather than the average conditions. He certainly did his best to brighten village life; he was quite free from clerical bigotry, and candidly admits that the stuffy little Ranter's chapel is too often the only place where the religious emotions of the rural poor can be stirred and the yearnings of the soul satisfied. Unfortunately his well-meant efforts came to little largely because he went too late to parish work. His best years had been spent as a schoolmaster.
He was essentially a man of the study, and the "monsters of life's waste" he attacked were too often those he imagined must be the bane of his poorer neighbours—rather than those that really oppressed them. Again, he was not Norfolk born. He never comprehended the inner nature of the hard-grained East Anglians that rates stranger and foe as nearly equivalent. For those reasons, Dr. Jessopp came to cross purposes with his people. He lost his temper sometimes, and wrote about his neighbours in terms some of them resented. Numbers of the Nineteenth Century travelled down to Scarning. When local celebrities recognized their portraits, dancing with stage antics to amuse the rector's town friends, and understood he was getting paid handsomely for the show, the feud waxed bitter.
As early as 1855, Dr. Jessopp issued a reprint of Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
's Essays in Divinity with notes. In 1897, he wrote a short life of Donne in the Leaders of Religion series. His One Generation of a Norfolk House must have cost him much labour; it is the story of one the Walpoles who became a Jesuit temp. Elizabeth, and it was while he was engaged over it at Mannington Hall, Lord Orford
Baron Walpole
Baron Walpole, of Walpole in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The holders of the peerage also held the titles of Baron Walpole, of Houghton in the County of Norfolk, Viscount Walpole and Earl of Orford from 1745 to 1797, the title of Earl of Orford from 1806 to...
's seat, that he was favoured by a nocturnal visit from a ghostly ecclesiastic in the library. Much good-humoured banter followed his communication of is experience to the Press, and probably his picturesque statement helped to draw public attention to this Henry Walpole, an unimportant figure and quite undeserving of the toil and research his vates sacer bestowed upon him. In 1879, he published his History of the Diocese of Norwich; in 1885, "The Coming of the Friars and other historical essays," and in 1881 and 1890, Arcady for Better or Worse and The Trials of a Country Parson, his most popular works. In 1890, he edited afresh Bell's edition of the Lives of the Norths.
In August 1884, Dr Jessopp came close to eternal damnation of his soul when he ran foul of the Muggletonians. His article entitled "The Prophet of Walnut Tree Yard" appeared in the August issue of The Nineteenth Century Review. Lodowicke Muggleton
Lodowicke Muggleton
Lodowicke Muggleton was an English plebeian religious thinker, who gave his name to Muggletonianism. He spent his working life as a journeyman tailor in the City of London and was imprisoned twice for his beliefs. He held opinions hostile to all forms of philosophical reason...
had been born in Walnut Tree Yard, Bishopsgate in 1609. Jessopp's article was written with robust humour, probably because the writer assumed the sect extinct or moribund. The mid-century Chambers' Encyclopaedia would have told him just that. Jessopp felt obliged to apologise, which he did on 20 September 1887. However, it could have been much worse. Until the middle of the century, Muggletonians condemned those who ridiculed them. Sir Walter Scott suffered just this fate.
Dr. Jessopp became a member by incorporation at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
in 1870, and in 1895, became an honorary Fellow of that Society. His college at Cambridge conferred the same honor on him in the same year. In 1890, Oxford appointed him a select preacher, and his handsome presence and his sonorous voice made him an imposing figure in St. Mary's pulpit. In 1895, he became an honorary canon of Norwich, and was Chaplain-in-Ordinary to King Edward from 1902 to 1910.
In 1907, Dr. Jessopp was granted a Civil List pension of £50, in addition to a £100 pension previously granted in recognition of his services to archæology and literature. He resigned his benefice in 1911, and went to live at The Chantry, Norwich. On his removal from Scarning he sold most of his valuable library, and the sale attracted considerable attention. It included a number of letters addressed by George Meredith to Dr. and Mrs. Jessopp, and a number of Meredith first editions with autograph inscriptions of the author.
Jessopp died 12 February 1914, and was buried at Scarning
Scarning
Scarning is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.It covers an area of and had a population of 2,932 in 1,092 households as of the 2001 census...
, Norfolk on 14 February.