Charles Marriott (1811–1858) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest, a fellow of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

, and one of the members of the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Un ...

. He was responsible for editing more than half of the volumes of their series of translations, the ''

Library of the Fathers The ''Library of the Fathers'', more properly ''A library of fathers of the holy Catholic church: anterior to the division of the East and West'', was a series of around 50 volumes of the Church Fathers, annotated in English translation, publishe ...

''.

Life

He was born in 1811, the son of a clergyman, John Marriott, who was a friend of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. He was educated at home, as his health did not permit him to endure the rigours of a public school. He went up to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

in 1829, and gained a

first First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

in classics and a

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

in mathematics. He was annoyed at his failure to get a double first, but his physical strength did not permit him to do the study necessary. In 1833, he obtained a fellowship at Oriel College, and became associated with

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

. In 1839, he became principal of the

Chichester Theological College Chichester Theological College (1838–1994) was an Anglican theological college for the Diocese of Chichester in West Sussex, Sussex, England. Its churchmanship was high church and Anglo-Catholic. History Chichester Theological College was ...

, preparing young men for 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, ...

ministry, but was obliged to resign after two years in poor health. In 1841, he was elected sub-dean at Oriel College. His return to Oxford coincided with Newman's move to the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. This provoked a backlash in the university against the Oxford Movement, which was already under suspicion of

popery The words Popery (adjective Popish) and Papism (adjective Papist, also used to refer to an individual) are mainly historical pejorative words in the English language for Roman Catholicism, once frequently used by Protestants and Eastern Orthodox ...

. In the absence of any real leader Marriott attempted to fill the gap and steady the group, although it was generally acknowledged that he was a follower rather than a leader by temperament. He became entangled in a vast correspondence with those thrown into confusion by Newman's defection, and did his best to encourage and support the waverers. Marriott was a nervous man, and very generous of both time and money. The consequence was that he was often distracted from tasks that he alone could do in order to do drudge-work. His early literary promise was undermined by this tendency to grasp at any nearby task, whether it was his to do or not, and he published little of his own. In 1842, he took over the editing of the ''Library of the Fathers'', and continued to run the project until his death. He was invariably found compiling indexes and other menial tasks connected with this, often with a headache, to the disgust of his friends. In 1850, he became Vicar of the

University Church of St Mary the Virgin The University Church of St Mary the Virgin (St Mary's or SMV for short) is an Anglican church in Oxford situated on the north side of the High Street. It is the centre from which the University of Oxford grew and its parish consists almost excl ...

, where Newman had once preached. He proved to be a popular and successful vicar, although this led to yet further demands on his time. During the cholera outbreak of 1854, he visited the sick industriously. In 1855, he was paralysed by a stroke. He was taken to his brother's house at Bradfield in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, where he lived for three more years, unable to do anything. He died in 1858. His lasting legacy is the volumes of the ''Library of the Fathers'', which are often the only English translations that have ever been made of most of the works in question. The majority have been reprinted in the ''

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers ''A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church'', usually known as the ''Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers'' (NPNF), is a set of books containing translations of early Christian writings into English. It was publi ...

'' series, without the copious notes to which Marriott and his colleagues devoted so much time.

Bibliography

John William Burgon John William Burgon (21 August 1813 – 4 August 1888) was an English Anglican divine who became the Dean of Chichester Cathedral in 1876. He was known during his lifetime for his poetry and his defense of the historicity and Mosaic authorshi ...

, ''Twelve Good Men''. Contains an article on Marriott. * T. Mozley, ''Remniscences, mainly of Oriel College and the Oxford Movement''. Brief mention of Marriott at the end of vol. 1.

External links

Biography of Marriott

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marriott, Charles 1811 births 1858 deaths Tractarians Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford 19th-century English Anglican priests English book editors Principals of Chichester Theological College Anglo-Catholic clergy English Anglo-Catholics Presidents of the Oxford Union 19th-century Anglican theologians