Thomas Seward (1708 – 4 March 1790) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Anglican

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and editor who was part of the

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

intellectual circle that included Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and his own daughter

Anna Seward Anna Seward (12 December 1742 ld style: 1 December 1742./ref>Often wrongly given as 1747.25 March 1809) was an English Romantic poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield. She benefited from her father's progressive views on female education. Li ...

, amongst others.

Life

Thomas Seward was the son of John Seward of Badsey,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. He married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Hunter, headmaster of Lichfield grammar school, and was the father of Anna Seward the author.

Education and career

He was admitted a foundation scholar of Westminster school in 1723. He was elected by the school to scholarships at Christ Church, Oxford, and

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 1727; but after his rejection by both universities he became a pensioner of St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1730 and M.A. in 1734. Seward became travelling tutor to Lord Charles FitzRoy, third son of

Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, (25 October 1683 – 6 May 1757) was an Irish and English politician. Early life He was the only child and heir of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton (1663–1690) (an illegitimate son of King Charles ...

, who died while on the tour in Italy in 1739. The Duke promised some preferment for Seward: he became rector of

Eyam Eyam () is an English village and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales that lies within the Peak District National Park. There is evidence of early occupation by Ancient Britons on the surrounding moors and lead was mined in the area by the R ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, and

Kingsley, Staffordshire Kingsley is a small village in the Staffordshire Moorlands near to Cheadle, and situated on the A52 from Stoke on Trent to Ashbourne. The civil parish population taken at the 2011 census was 2,204. Nowadays Kingsley is a quiet rural village, b ...

. He also obtained the prebend of Bubbenhall in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

, though the date of his admission does not appear, and on 30 April 1755 he was collated to the prebend of Pipa Parva in the same church. He was installed in the prebend of Lyme and Halstock in Salisbury Cathedral on 5 June 1755. Seward resided at

from 1749, moving into the Bishop's Palace in 1754, and was acquainted with Samuel Johnson, whom he used to entertain on his visits to Lichfield.

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the English writer ...

described him as a great valetudinarian. Seward died at the Bishop's Palace, Lichfield, on 4 March 1790.

Work

His progressive ideas on

female education Female education is a catch-all term of a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girl ...

, authoring "''The Female Right to Literature''" (1748), facilitated his daughter's career, although he was later to regret this. ''The Female Right to Literature'' and four other poems by Seward were printed in

Robert Dodsley Robert Dodsley (13 February 1703 – 23 September 1764) was an English bookseller, publisher, poet, playwright, and miscellaneous writer. Life Dodsley was born near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his father was master of the free school. H ...

's ''Collection of Poems''. Seward also edited, with Thomas Sympson, the ''Works'' of

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I (1603–25). They became known as a team early in their association, so much so that their joi ...

, and wrote the preface, 10 vols. London, 1750.

Selected publications

* , in , Volume 2, pp. 309–315 * ''The Conformity between Popery and Paganism'', London, 1746. * A sermon, preached at Lichfield in 1756, entitled ''The late dreadful Earthquakes no proof of God's particular Wrath against the Portuguese''.

Legacy

Anna Seward caused a monument to be erected to her parents in Lichfield Cathedral. The monument was executed by John Bacon, and the verses which form part of the epitaph were the composition of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...

. In 1779 he was portrayed as the Canon in the novel ''Columella'' by

Richard Graves Richard Graves (4 May 1715 – 23 November 1804) was an English cleric, poet, and novelist. He is remembered especially for his picaresque novel ''The Spiritual Quixote'' (1773). Early life Graves was born at Mickleton Manor, Mickleton, Glouce ...

References

Bibliography

* *

Thompson Cooper Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837, Cambridge – 5 March 1904, London) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to t ...

, rev. Bancroft, P. (2004)
Seward, Thomas (1708–1790)
, ''

Oxford 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 ...

'', Oxford University Press, accessed 5 February 2008 * *
Letter
from

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his '' Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard,'' published in 1751. G ...

to Horace Walpole, 1748, regarding Seward and the Dodsley collection

External links

Thomas Seward
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Thomas 1708 births 1790 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests English writers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge