Richard Izacke (16241698) of Devon was an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

and lawyer who served as Chamberlain of the

City of Exeter A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. His history, ''Antiquities of the City of Exeter'', was first published in 1677.

Biography

Baptised Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

on 8 February 1624 at

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, Devon, River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, w ...

, he was the eldest son of Samuel Izacke of Exeter, who was apparently a lawyer and member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

(1617). On 20 April 1641, Izacke was admitted as

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and the fourth-oldest college of the university. The college was founde ...

, but left the university at the end of 1642 because of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. In November 1641 he entered the Inner Temple and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1650. On 25 October 1653 he became Chamberlain of Exeter and on 15 December 1681

Town Clerk A clerk (pronounced "clark" /klɑːk/ in British and Australian English) is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in ma ...

of Exeter. By his wife Katherine, of unknown family, he had children including Samuel Izacke (born 1663), who also became Chamberlain of Exeter and an antiquarian. Izacke's father died in 1681 or 1682 and according to his will, Richard had behaved badly towards him by "his disobedience in his marriage". Despite this he bequeathed him a house in Holy Trinity parish, Exeter and leasehold property in Tipton,

Ottery St. Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fairm ...

, on the condition that he behaved well towards his stepmother, brothers, and sisters in the future. Izacke was buried in Ottery St Mary parish church on 18 March 1698.

Works

As Chamberlain of Exeter, Izacke could access the city's archives and using these resources he produced a manuscript history of the city, dedicating it to the city's corporation in 1665. The history was first published in London in 1677 as ''Antiquities of the City of Exeter''. Later editions were undertaken by his son Samuel, and had greatly expanded titles. The largest section of the first edition consists of 180 pages of "Memorials": short descriptions of events related to Exeter, ordered by year from 1200 to 1676. Research has shown that the entries up to 1590 were substantially copied from a manuscript chronicle in the city archives that had been written by John Hooker, the first Chamberlain of Exeter, who had died in 1601. Izacke's unacknowledged and sometimes inaccurate plagiarism of Hooker's work, as well as the errors that he himself made, have caused his ''History'' to be subjected to much criticism. However, despite its faults, the book was republished seven times up to 1757. After a reprint of the first edition in 1681, there was a gap of over forty years before the second edition was published by Izacke's son Samuel. Following this there were five more reissues, all with unchanged text, but slightly different title pages. Izacke's manuscript history of 1665 provided the content for another book, first published in 1736 by his grandson (also named Samuel). This was about legacies left to the poor. Four further editions were published under various titles, the last in 1820.

Published editions

*Izacke, Richard, (improved and continued to the year 1724 by Samuel Izacke), ''Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter'', 3rd Edition, London, 173

Biography

Works

Published editions

Notes

References

Further reading