John Henry Overton, VD, DD (hon) (1835–1903) was an English cleric, known as a church historian.
Life
Born at Louth, Lincolnshire, on 4 January 1835, he was the only son of Francis Overton, a surgeon of Louth, by his wife Helen Martha, daughter of Major John Booth, of Louth. Educated first (1842–5) at
Louth grammar school
King Edward VI Grammar School (sometimes abbreviated to KEVIGS) is a grammar school located in Louth, Lincolnshire, England.
History
As early as the 8th century schooling was available at Louth,Laleham, Middlesex under the Rev. John Buckland, Overton went to Rugby School in February 1849. He obtained an open scholarship at
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
. A sportsman, he was placed in the first class in classical moderations in 1855 and in the third class in the final classical school in 1857. He graduated B.A. in 1858, and proceeded M.A. in 1860.
In 1858 Overton was ordained to the curacy of
Quedgeley
Quedgeley is a suburban town of Gloucester, located 3.5 miles (5.6 km) southwest of the city centre, in the county of Gloucestershire, England. A thin strip of land between the Severn and the Gloucester Ship Canal occupies the west, and the ...
, Gloucestershire, and in 1860 was presented by J. L. Fytche, a friend of his father, to the vicarage of
Legbourne
Legbourne is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, about south-east of the town of Louth.
History
The Priory of Legbourne was founded by Robert Fitz Gilbert of Tathwell about 1150, apparently to rec ...
, Lincolnshire. He took pupils, and studied English church history. Overton was collated to a prebend in
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...
by Bishop
Christopher Wordsworth
Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Anglican Church.
Life
Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity, who was the youngest b ...
in 1879, and in 1883, on
William Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
's recommendation, was presented by the crown to the rectory of Epworth, Lincolnshire. While at Epworth he was rural dean of
Axholme
The Isle of Axholme is a geographical area in England: a part of North Lincolnshire that adjoins South Yorkshire. It is located between the towns of Scunthorpe and Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, both of which are in the traditional W ...
Convocation
A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...
. In 1898 he was presented by the dean and chapter of Lincoln to the rectory of
Gumley
Gumley is a village and civil parish in the Harborough district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, United Kingdom. The closest town is Market Harborough. The population of the civil parish (including Laughton, Leics) at the 2011 census wa ...
, near Market Harborough, and represented the chapter in convocation. He was a frequent speaker at church congresses. In 1901 he was a select preacher at Oxford, and from 1902 Birkbeck lecturer in Ecclesiastical History at Trinity College, Cambridge. Early in 1903
Carr Glyn
Edward Carr Glyn (21 November 184314 November 1928) was an Anglican bishop in England in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. He was the Bishop of Peterborough from 1897 to 1916.
Life
Glyn was a younger son of George Glyn, 1st Bar ...
Overton kept one period of residence at Peterborough, but did not live to inhabit his prebendal house. He died at Gumley rectory on 17 September 1903. He was buried in the churchyard of the parish church of Skidbrook near Louth. He was a high churchman and a member of the English Church Union.
As memorials of Overton a brass tablet was placed in Epworth parish church by the parishioners, a stained glass window and a reredos in Skidbrook church, and a two-light window in the chapter-house of Lincoln Cathedral. A stained-glass window 3 Nave - North Wall (ix)in St James' Church, Louth, Lincolnshire has the dedication To the glory of God and in memory of John Henry Overton M.A. D.D., Pastor, Scholar and Historian born at Louth 4th Janry 1835, died at Gumley 17 September 1903'.''
Works
In 1878, with his college friend Charles John Abbey, rector of
Checkendon
Checkendon is a village and civil parish about west of Henley-on-Thames in South Oxfordshire and about north west of Reading in Berkshire on a mid-height swathe of the Chilterns.
History
The parish has a record of continuous settlement since ...
,
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...
, he published ''The English Church in the Eighteenth Century'', 2 vols. A second and abridged edition in one volume was published in 1887. He also published:
* '' William Law, Nonjuror and Mystic'', 1881.
* ''Life in the English Church, 1660–1714'', 1885.
* ''The Evangelical Revival in the Eighteenth Century'' in
Mandell Creighton
Mandell Creighton (; 5 July 1843 – 14 January 1901) was a British historian and a bishop of the Church of England. A scholar of the Renaissance papacy, Creighton was the first occupant of the Dixie Chair of Ecclesiastical History at the ...
's ''Epochs of Church History'', 1886.
* ''Life of
Christopher Wordsworth
Christopher Wordsworth (30 October 180720 March 1885) was an English intellectual and a bishop of the Anglican Church.
Life
Wordsworth was born in London, the youngest son of Christopher Wordsworth, Master of Trinity, who was the youngest b ...
, Bishop of Lincoln'', with Elizabeth Wordsworth, 1888, 1890.
* ''John Hannah, a Clerical Study'', 1890.
* ''John Wesley'', in the "Leaders of Religion" series, 1891.
* ''The English Church in the Nineteenth Century'', 1894.
* ''The Church in England'', 2 vols., in
Peter Hempson Ditchfield
Rev. Peter Hempson Ditchfield, Society of Antiquaries of London, FSA (1854–1930) was a Church of England priest, an historian and a prolific author. He is notable for having co-edited three Berkshire volumes of the ''Victoria County History'' ...
's "National Churches", 1897.
* ''The Anglican Revival'' in the "Victorian Era" series, 1897.
* An edition of William Law's ''Serious Call'' in the English Theological Library, 1898.
* ''The Nonjurors, their Lives, &c.'', 1902.
* ''Some Post-Reformation Saints'', 1905, posthumous.
At his death Overton left unfinished ''A History of the English Church from the Accession of George I to the End of the Eighteenth Century'',’ a volume for the "History of the English Church" edited by Dean Stephens and William Hunt; the book was edited and completed by the Rev. Frederic Relton in 1906. He contributed memoirs of divines to the ''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', and wrote for the ''Dictionary of Hymnology'', the ''
Church Quarterly Review
''The Church Quarterly Review'' (now abbreviated ''CQR'') was an English journal published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. It existed independently from 1875 until 1968; in that year it merged with the ''London Quarterly and Hol ...
'', and other periodicals.
Family
On 17 July 1862 Overton married Marianne Ludlam, daughter of John Allott of Hague Hall, Yorkshire, and rector of
Maltby, Lincolnshire
Maltby is a hamlet in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It forms part of Raithby cum Maltby civil parish, and is situated on the A153, south-west from Louth. It is in the civil parish of Tathwell.
The Knights Templars ha ...