Andrew Burnaby
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Andrew Burnaby (16 August 1732 – 9 March 1812) was an English clergyman and travel writer, mainly about the American colonies and Italy.


Life

He was born in Asfordby,
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, on 16 August 1732, the eldest son and namesake of the Reverend Andrew Burnaby, a well-to-do clergyman of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
. The young Burnaby attended
Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
, and then
Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...
, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1754 and his master's degree in 1757. After taking his BA he was ordained. Shortly afterward he toured America, a trip which he later wrote up as a celebrated travelogue, ''Travels Through the Middle Settlements in North America, In the Years 1759 and 1760'', which was published in 1775, and again in an enlarged form in 1798. He wrote about all of the things he saw in the colonies. His book avoids taking sides in the growing political struggles between the colonies and Britain, but he describes the discord among the states, the tensions between the colonists and the Indian tribes, and adverse "climate" in the south that "renders them indolent, inactive, and unenterprising... in every line of their character" as evidence that would prevent America from ever becoming a major power. After his return to Europe, he became Chaplain to the British mission at Leghorn in 1762. He was posted there for about five years, rising to become Proconsul (but actually doing the job of Consul), until his eventual resignation and return to England, where he was appointed vicar at
Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, from 1769. He wrote an account of his travels in
Corsica Corsica ( , , ; ; ) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the Metro ...
and Italy in 1804, but this ran to only a few copies. Burnaby was made
Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...
and Professor of Sacred TheologyP. Townend, ed., 1965, ''Burke's Landed Gentry'', 18th edition, pp. 102–105. Burke's Peerage, London. at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 1776. He married Anne Edwyn, daughter and heiress of John Edwyn of Baggrave Hall, Leicestershire, on 26 February 1770 at
St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...
, London.A. R. Wagner, 1940, "Some of the Sixty-four Ancestors of Her Majesty the Queen". In: ''Genealogist's Magazine'' vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 7–13. This renewed his Leicestershire connection and he was made
Archdeacon of Leicester The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester. History The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England ...
in 1786. Their grandson, Edwyn Burnaby, was the maternal great-grandfather of
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was al ...
and, therefore, the great-great-great-grandfather of
King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
. Burnaby died on 9 March 1812 at Blackheath, Kent, and was buried at
Hungarton Hungarton (or Hungerton) is a small village and civil parish in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England, about north-east of Leicester and south-west of Melton Mowbray. The population of the civil parish was 26 ...
, Leicestershire.Memorial inscription in Hungarton parish church Anne Edwyn was baptised on 15 October 1735 at Hungarton, Leicestershire, and died there a few days after her husband, on 16 or 19 March 1812.


References


External links


Andrew Burnaby. Travels through the Middle Settlements in North-America in the Years 1759 and 1760: With Observations upon the State of the Colonies. 1775
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnaby, Andrew 1812 deaths 1732 births 18th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Leicester English travel writers People from the Borough of Melton Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge