Henry Nutcombe Oxenham (15 November 1829 – 23 March 1888) was an English ecclesiologist,

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, author and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. Originally ordained in the Church of England, he later converted to the Roman Catholic faith and was received into that Church.

Biography

He was born at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

to William Oxnam and Mary Susanna (née Carter), where William Oxnam was a master, and was baptised at

Eton, Buckinghamshire Eton ( ) is a town in Berkshire, England, on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor, connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The civil parish, which also includes the village of Eton Wick two miles west of the town, had a population of 4 ...

on 8 January 1830, where his uncle was

Thomas Thellusson Carter Thomas Thellusson Carter (19 March 1808 – 28 October 1901), often known as T. T. Carter, was a significant figure in the Victorian Church of England. He was responsible for reintroducing some Catholic practices to the church and bei ...

. The family name changed from Oxnam to Oxenham in 1834, when Henry was four years old. From Harrow, Oxenham went to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he was

President of the Oxford Union Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...

in Trinity term, 1852. He took Anglican orders in 1854, but became a Roman Catholic in 1857. At first his thoughts turned towards the priesthood, and he spent some time at the

London Oratory The London Oratory, officially the Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri in London, is a Catholic community of priests living under the rule of life established by Philip Neri (1515–1595). It is located in an Oratory House, next to th ...

and at

St Edmund's College, Ware St Edmund's College is a coeducational private day and boarding school in the British public school tradition, set in in Ware, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1568 as a seminary, then a boys' school, it is the oldest continuously operatinga claim ...

. Being unable, however, to surrender his belief in the validity of

Anglican orders The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. ''Ministry'' commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the ''threefold order'' of bishops, priests and deacons. Anglican ministry incl ...

, he proceeded no further than

minor orders In Christianity, minor orders are ranks of church ministry. In the Catholic Church, the predominating Latin Church formerly distinguished between the major orders—priest (including bishop), deacon and subdeacon—and four minor orders— acolyt ...

in the Roman Church. In 1863 he made a prolonged visit to Germany, where he studied the language and literature, and formed a close friendship with

Döllinger Dollinger and Döllinger are surnames of German origin. They may refer to: * Genora Johnson Dollinger (1913–1995), American labor organizer * Günther Dollinger (born 1960), German physicist and professor * Ignaz Döllinger (1770–1841), German ...

, whose ''First Age of the Christian Church'' he translated in 1866. Oxenham was a regular contributor to the ''Saturday Review''. A selection of his essays was published in ''Short Studies in Ecclesiastical History and Biography'' (1884), and ''Short Studies, Ethical and Religious'' (1885). In 1876, he translated the second volume of Bishop Hefele's ''History of the Councils of the Church'', and published several pamphlets on the reunion of

Christendom The terms Christendom or Christian world commonly refer to the global Christian community, Christian states, Christian-majority countries or countries in which Christianity is dominant or prevails.SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christen ...

. His ''Catholic Doctrine of the Atonement'' (1865) and ''Catholic

Eschatology Eschatology (; ) concerns expectations of the end of Contemporary era, present age, human history, or the world itself. The end of the world or end times is predicted by several world religions (both Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic and non-Abrah ...

and

Universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept within Christianity that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is se ...

'' (1876) are standard works. He died on 23 March 1888 at

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London, of undisclosed causes, aged 58. He never married.

Anti-vivisection

Oxenham was active in the

anti-vivisection Vivisection () is surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure. The word is, more broadly, used as a pejorative catch-all term for experiment ...

movement. He was one of the earliest members of the Victoria Street and International Society for the Protection of Animals from Vivisection. In 1878, he authored "Moral and Religious Estimate of Vivisection" for the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term '' ...

''. An obituary in '' The Animal's Defender and Zoophilist'' noted that "the anti-vivisection cause has lost a devoted adherent and a powerful champion by the recent death of Rev. Henry Nutcombe Oxenham".

Selected publications

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oxenham, Henry Nutcombe 1829 births 1888 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English historians 19th-century English male writers 19th-century English translators Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Anglican priest converts to Roman Catholicism Christian writers about animal rights and welfare Ecclesiologists English anti-vivisectionists English male non-fiction writers English Roman Catholics English theologians English translators People educated at Harrow School People educated at St Edmund's College, Ware People from Harrow, London Presidents of the Oxford Union