Charles James Blomfield (29 May 1786 – 5 August 1857) was a British

divine Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...

and

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Cla ...

, and a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

bishop for 32 years.

Early life and education

Charles James Blomfield was born in

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...

, the eldest son (and one of ten children) of Charles Blomfield (1763–1831), a schoolmaster (as was Charles James's grandfather, James Blomfield), JP and chief

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

of Bury St Edmunds, and his wife, Hester (1765–1844), daughter of Edward Pawsey, a Bury grocer. He was therefore unusual in becoming a Bishop of London not from an ecclesiastical, aristocratic or landowning background. His brother was

Edward Valentine Blomfield Edward Valentine Blomfield (14 February 1788 – 9 October 1816) was an English classical scholar and brother of Bishop Charles James Blomfield. Life Blomfield was born at Bury St Edmunds, the second son of the six children of Charles Blomfie ...

, a

classical scholar Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

. He was educated at the grammar school at Bury St Edmunds, declining a scholarship to

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

after a brief stay there. Blomfield matriculated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

in 1804. At Cambridge, he was tutored by John Hudson, mathematician and clergyman. Blomfield won the Browne medals for Latin and Greek odes, and the Craven scholarship. He graduated B.A. ( 3rd wrangler and 1st Chancellor's medal in classics) in 1808, M.A. in 1811, B.D. in 1818,

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

('' per lit. reg.'') in 1820.

Career

Blomfield was elected to a fellowship at Trinity College in 1809. The first-fruits of his scholarship was an edition of the '' Prometheus'' of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...

in 1810; this was followed by editions of the '' Septem contra Thebas'', ''

Persae ''The Persians'' ( grc, Πέρσαι, ''Persai'', Latinised as ''Persae'') is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and only surviving part of a now othe ...

'', '' Choephori'', and '' Agamemnon'', of

Callimachus Callimachus (; ) was an ancient Greek poet, scholar and librarian who was active in Alexandria during the 3rd century BC. A representative of Ancient Greek literature of the Hellenistic period, he wrote over 800 literary works in a wide varie ...

, and of the fragments of

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

, Sophron and Alcaeus. Blomfield, however, soon ceased to devote himself entirely to scholarship. Ordained deacon in March 1810 and priest in June 1810, he held a curacy at Chesterford, then the following livings: *Rector of

Quarrington, Lincolnshire Quarrington is a village and former civil parish, now part of the civil parish of Sleaford, in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, a non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands of England. The old village and its church lie approxima ...

(1810–20) *Rector of

Dunton, Buckinghamshire __NOTOC__ Dunton is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is situated approximately north from Aylesbury and south-east from Winslow. In 2011, Dunton had a population (including Ho ...

(1811–17) *Rector of

Tuddenham Tuddenham is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. In 2005 it had a population of 450. falling to 423 at the 2011 Census. RAF Tuddenham Between 1943 and 1963, RAF Tuddenham was a Royal Air F ...

, Suffolk (1817–20) *Vicar and Rector of Little Chesterford, Essex (1817–24) *Rector of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, London (1820–28) Whilst at Dunton he educated George Spencer (later

Ignatius Spencer Ignatius of St Paul (21 December 1799 – 1 October 1864), born as George Spencer, was a son of the 2nd Earl Spencer. He converted from Anglicanism to the Roman Catholic Church and entered the Passionist religious order in 1847 and spent his l ...

), and they corresponded for several years after. In 1817 he was appointed private chaplain to William Howley,

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. In 1819 he was nominated to the rich living of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, and in 1822 he became Archdeacon of Colchester. Two years later he was raised to the bishopric as

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in ...

where he carried through many much-needed reforms. In 1828, he was appointed a Privy Counsellor and translated becoming

, a post which he held for twenty-eight years making him the third longest-serving post reformation incumbent. He was also the youngest known Bishop of London - his five youngest children were born in Fulham Palace - and his energy and zeal did much to extend the influence of the church. He was one of the best debaters in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminst ...

(members of the Upper House of the Canterbury Convocation confessed to trimming their quill pens before his arrival!), took a leading position in the action for church reform which culminated in the ecclesiastical commission, and did much for the extension of the colonial episcopate; and his genial and kindly nature made him an invaluable mediator in the controversies arising out of the tractarian movement. In 1840 he officiated at the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Between 1833 and 1841 he consecrated four of the

Magnificent Seven cemeteries The "Magnificent Seven" is an informal term applied to seven large private cemeteries in London. They were established in the 19th century to alleviate overcrowding in existing parish burial grounds as London’s population grew during the Vic ...

of London. He also made a number of changes at

Fulham Palace Fulham Palace, in Fulham, London, previously in the former English county of Middlesex, is a Grade I listed building with medieval origins and was formerly the principal residence of the Bishop of London. The site was the country home of th ...

, including planting a great number of trees which remain today.

Later life

In 1856 he was permitted to resign his bishopric due to ill health, retaining

as his residence, with a pension of £6,000 per annum. Blomfield is buried in the churchyard of

All Saints Church, Fulham All Saints' Church is the ancient parish church of Fulham, in the County of Middlesex, pre-dating the Reformation. It is now an Anglican church in Fulham, London, sited close to the River Thames, beside the northern approach to Putney Brid ...

, London and a memorial to him, by George Richmond, can be seen at

Saint Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Gr ...

along the south wall of the

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

. His grave has long-since had the surrounding railings removed.

Published works

His published works, exclusive of those above mentioned, consist of charges, sermons, lectures and pamphlets, and of a ''Manual of Private and Family Prayers''. He was a frequent contributor to the quarterly reviews, chiefly on classical subjects.

Personal life

Blomfield married Anna Maria Heath on 6 November 1810 at

Hemblington Hemblington is a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, about east of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 316 in 134 households at the 2001 census, increasing to a population of 332 in 146 households at the 2011 Ce ...

, Norfolk and they had six children: *Anna Maria Blomfield (1811–1812) *Charles James Blomfield (1813–1813) *Maria Blomfield (1814–1884) *Charles William Blomfield (1815–1815) *Edward Thomas Blomfield (1816–1822) *Charles James Blomfield (1818–1818) Anna Maria died on 16 February 1818 aged 33 at

Hildersham Hildersham is a small village 8 miles to the south-east of Cambridge, England. It is situated just off the A1307 between Linton and Great Abington on a tributary of the River Cam known locally as the River Granta. The parish boundary extend ...

, Cambridgeshire. Blomfield then married Dorothy (née Cox, widow of Thomas Kent of Hildersham, Cambridgeshire) on 17 December 1819 at St George, Hanover Square, London, and they had eleven children: *Charles James Blomfield (1820–1822) *Mary Frances Blomfield (1821–1869) *Frederick George "Fred" Blomfield (1823–1879), rector *Isabella "Isy" Blomfield (1824–1879) *Henry John Blomfield (1825–1900), Royal Navy *Francis "Frank" Blomfield (1827–1860), drowned in the SS Northerner steamer disaster off the Californian coast *

Arthur William Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

(1829–1899), architect * Lucy Elizabeth Blomfield (1830–1864), has 1836 for Lucy's date of birth children's author “Aunt Lucy” *Charles James Blomfield (1831–1915), emigrated to Canada in 1858 *

Alfred Blomfield The Right Reverend Alfred Blomfield D.D. (31 August 18335 November 1894) was an Anglican bishop in the last decades of the 19th century. Alfred was the youngest son of Charles James Blomfield, Bishop of London, and brother of architect Arthur ...

(1833–1894), bishop of Colchester *Dorothy Hester "Dora" Blomfield (1836–1886) He was grandfather of the poet and hymn writer Dorothy Gurney (née Blomfield) (1858–1932), the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856–1942) and the palaeontologist, geologist and malacologist Francis Arthur Bather (1863–1934). Dorothy also had one son from her first marriage, Thomas Fassett Kent (1817–1871), barrister (he was father of the poet Armine Thomas Kent). The Blomfield household was larger than any other family of a Bishop of London, with eleven surviving children living in the palace.

References

External links

Bibliographic directory
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...

Bishop Blomfield's papers are deposited at Lambeth Palace Library

Attribution

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blomfield, Charles James 1786 births 1857 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Colchester Bishops of Chester Bishops of London Blomfield family Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham Deans of the Chapel Royal Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Canterbury Association Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds Clergy from Bury St Edmunds 19th-century Church of England bishops 18th-century Anglican theologians 19th-century Anglican theologians Early modern Christian devotional writers Modern Christian devotional writers Writers from Bury St Edmunds