Henry Kett
Encyclopedia
Life
Son of Benjamin and Mary Kett, he was born in the parish of St. Peter's Mancroft, NorwichNorwich
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...
, 12 February 1761. His father was a cordwainer
Cordwainer
A cordwainer is a shoemaker/cobbler who makes fine soft leather shoes and other luxury footwear articles. The word is derived from "cordwain", or "cordovan", the leather produced in Córdoba, Spain. The term cordwainer was used as early as 1100 in England...
and freeman of Norwich, and he himself was admitted to the freedom of the city on 28 August 1784. He was educated at Norwich grammar school
Norwich School (educational institution)
Norwich School is an independent school located in Norwich, United Kingdom. It is one of the oldest schools in the world, with a traceable history to 1096, and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.It is a fee-paying, co-educational day school and has one of the best...
by the Rev. William Lemon, and matriculated as commoner inf. ord. of Trinity College, Oxford
Trinity College, Oxford
The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...
, on 18 March 1777, graduating B.A. 1780, M.A. 1783, B.D. 1793. He was elected Blount exhibitioner 26 May 1777, scholar 15 June 1778, and fellow 5 June 1784, retaining his fellowship until 1824. His name occurs as the tutor of various undergraduates from 1784 to 1809, but the period during which he acted as college tutor probably ranged from 1799 to 1808.
In 1789 Kett visited France and saw the early days of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
. He was Bampton lecturer in 1790, and in the same year played the major part in raising a subscription for John Uri, when he was discharged by the delegates of the Clarendon Press from his position as cataloguer of the Oriental manuscripts in the Bodleian Library
Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...
. He was select preacher 1801–2, and classical examiner during 1803–4. On 31 October 1793 he unsuccessfully contested the Professorship of Poetry at Oxford against James Hurdis
James Hurdis
James Hurdis was a clergyman and a poet. He studied at St Mary Hall, Oxford and Magdalen College, Oxford, later becoming a Fellow of Magdalen College. He was the vicar for the West Sussex village of Burpham and it was there that he wrote The Village Curate...
. In 1802 he canvassed again for the same post, but refrained from going to the poll. On the first occasion he published, as his credentials for the professorship, a volume of Juvenile Poems, most of which had appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, but he afterwards endeavoured to suppress it.
His person lent itself to caricature, and in June 1807 he was depicted by Robert Dighton
Robert Dighton
Robert Dighton was born c.1752 in London and died there in 1814. An English portrait painter, print maker and caricaturist, he was the founder of a dynasty of artists who followed in his footsteps.-Life and work:...
in ‘A View from Trinity’ as a tall man, with his hands behind his back. In his younger days Kett was grave, but he afterwards became a beau, learnt dancing, and sought a reputation for gallantry. He rejected many college livings, and twice missed the college headship. Through Joseph Chapman, President of his college, he held the incumbency of Elsfield
Elsfield
Elsfield is a village and civil parish about northeast of the centre of Oxford.-Parish church:The chancel arch of the Church of England parish church dates from at least the latter part of the 12th century. The church formerly had a north aisle that may also have dated from this period. In about...
, near Oxford, from 22 May 1785 to 28 June 1804; from July 1812 to 1820 he was vicar of Sutton Benger
Sutton Benger
Sutton Benger is a small village in the county of Wiltshire in England located North East of Chippenham. In the Survey of English Dialects, the recording from the village was one of the furthest away from Standard English that was recorded. The village was the home of shopkeeper Joseph Fry,...
, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and in 1814 he was nominated by Bishop George Tomline
George Pretyman Tomline
Sir George Pretyman Tomline, 5th Baronet FRS was an English clergyman, theologian, Bishop of Lincoln and then Bishop of Winchester, and confidant of William Pitt the Younger...
as perpetual curate
Perpetual curate
A Perpetual Curate was a clergyman of the Church of England officiating as parish priest in a small or sparsely peopled parish or districtAs noted below the term perpetual was not to be understood literally but was used to indicate he was not a curate but the parish priest and of higher...
of Hykeham
Hykeham
Hykeham is a southern suburb of Lincoln, Lincolnshire in England.It is served by Hykeham railway station....
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. He was also king's preacher at Whitehall; but these appointments did not compel him to leave Oxford, and he resided in college until his marriage at Charlton Kings
Charlton Kings
Charlton Kings is a suburb of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England. The area constitutes a civil parish. Prior to the Local Government Act 1972 coming into force on April 1, 1974, it had been an urban district...
, 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....
, in December 1823, to Miss White.
Kett was vain and subject to fits of depression. He was found drowned at Stanwell
Stanwell
Stanwell is a suburban village in the Surrey borough of Spelthorne. It is located 15.7 miles west south-west of Charing Cross and half a mile from the southern boundary of London Heathrow Airport and the London Borough of Hillingdon...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, on 30 June 1825. His widow married at St. James's, Piccadilly, on 28 November 1828, the Rev. Thomas Nicholl. Kett gave to his college, in addition to large subscriptions to various buildings and some plate, portraits of William Pope, earl of Downe, and the first earl of Chatham. The bulk of his fortune, about £25,000, was left after his widow's death to three public charities, one being the Radcliffe Infirmary at Oxford.
Works
Kett was the author of:- ‘Bampton Sermons,’ 1791, consisting of ‘A Representation of the Conduct and Opinions of the Primitive Christians, with Remarks on Gibbon and Priestley;’ 2nd edit., with corrections and additions, 1792. It has been suggested that Samuel ParrSamuel ParrSamuel Parr , was an English schoolmaster, writer, minister and Doctor of Law. He was known in his time for political writing, and as "the Whig Johnson", though his reputation has lasted less well that Samuel Johnson's, and the resemblances were at a superficial level, Parr being no prose stylist,...
assisted him in this work. - ‘Juvenile Poems,’ 1793.
- ‘History the Interpreter of Prophecy,’ 1799, 3 vols.; and numerous editions in later years. It was dedicated to Bishop Pretyman, afterwards known as Tomline, to whom Kett on his death left the copyright.
- ‘Elements of General Knowledge,’ 1802, 2 vols., forming the substance of a course of lectures which he had read to his pupils during the previous twelve years. The appendix of fifty-two pages contained a list of books, in the classical part of which Richard PorsonRichard PorsonRichard Porson was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson's Law; and the Greek typeface Porson was based on his handwriting.-Early life:...
was consulted. There were numerous editions of this work, the eighth appearing in 1815. Some of its blunders were pointed out by John Davison in ‘A Short Account of certain Notable Discoveries contained in a Recent Work,’ pt. i. 1803 [by Phileleutheros Orielensis], pt. ii. 1804. It was defended, probably by Kett himself in the disguise of ‘S. Nobody, of King's College, Oxford,’ in ‘The Biter Bit, or Discoveries Discovered in a Pamphlet of certain Notable Discoveries,’ 1804; and by Frederick NolanFrederick Nolan (theologian)-Life:Born at Old Rathmines Castle, County Dublin, the seat of his grandfather, on 9 February 1784, third son of Edward Nolan of St. Peter's, Dublin, by his wife Florinda. In 1796 he entered Trinity College, Dublin, but did not graduate, and on 19 November 1803 matriculated as a gentleman commoner...
of Exeter College, in ‘A Letter to Phileleutheros Orielensis,’ 1804, upholding the view that Kett's errors were due to carelessness rather than ignorance. - ‘Emily, a moral Tale,’ 2nd edit. 1809.
- ‘A Tour to the Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland in August 1798.’ This was published in William Fordyce MavorWilliam Fordyce MavorWilliam Fordyce Mavor , compiler of educational works, was born on 1 Aug. 1758 at New Deer, Aberdeenshire. In 1775 he became an assistant in a school at Burford, Oxfordshire, and he subsequently taught a school at Woodstock. After instructing the children of the Duke of Marlborough in writing, he...
's ‘British Tourists' Companion,’ v. 117–57. - ‘Logic made Easy, or a short View of the Aristotelic System of Reasoning,’ 1809. An attack on it was made in ‘The Examiner Examined, or Logic Vindicated. By a Graduate’ [i.e. Edward CoplestonEdward CoplestonEdward Copleston was an English churchman and academic, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford from 1814 and bishop of Llandaff from 1827.-Life:He was born at Offwell in Devon, and educated at Oxford University....
], 1809, and it was afterwards suppressed by Kett. - ‘The Flowers of Wit, or a Choice Collection of Bon Mots,’ 1814, 2 vols.
Kett contributed five papers to the ‘Olla Podrida’ of Thomas Monro
Thomas Monro
Thomas Monro was a British art collector and patron as well as Physician to George III. He was Principal Physician of the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London but resigned in June 1816 as a result of scandal when he was accused of ‘wanting in humanity’ towards his patients.Monro was best known as a...
. His life of William Benwell was appended to a volume of ‘Poems, Odes, Prologues, and Epilogues spoken at Reading School,’ 1804, pp. 205–23; and his memoir of Henry Headley, with some verses on Headley's death, was inserted in the ‘Select Beauties of Ancient English Poetry’ (1810 edit., pp. xx–ii). To Frederic Shoberl
Frederic Shoberl
Frederic Shoberl , also known as Frederick Schoberl, was an English journalist, editor, translator and writer. Schoberl edited Forget Me Not, the first literary annual, issued at Christmas "for 1823" and translated The Hunchback of Notre Dame.-Biography:Shoberl was born in London in 1775, and...
's translation of François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René de Chateaubriand
François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian. He is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature.-Early life and exile:...
's ‘Beauties of Christianity’ he supplied a preface and notes. His translations of John Jortin
John Jortin
-Life:Jortin was the son of Renatus Jordain, a French Huguenot refugee and government official, and Martha Rogers, daughter of Daniel Rogers. He was educated at Jesus College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1721. He was Rede lecturer at Cambridge in 1724, and Boyle lecturer in 1749...
's poems were reprinted in Jortin's miscellaneous works; numerous pieces by him appeared in the Gentleman's Magazine, and several letters to and from him are in John Johnstone's ‘Samuel Parr,’ i. 328–31, vii. 577–93, viii.212–15; and in Thomas Frognall Dibdin
Thomas Frognall Dibdin
Thomas Frognall Dibdin , English bibliographer, born at Calcutta, was the son of Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of Charles Dibdin....
's ‘Reminiscences,’ ii. 791–2. He left many manuscripts, including an edition of the Greek proverb collection by Eilhardus Lubinus, with English translation and notes.