Francis Holyoake (1567 – 13 November 1653) was an English cleric and

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

Life

Holyoake was born at

Nether Whitacre Nether Whitacre is a small village and larger rural civil parish in North Warwickshire, Warwickshire, England. Topography It is one of 'The Whitacres': Nether Whitacre, Over Whitacre and Whitacre Heath which are in the upper valley of the Rive ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

. About 1582 he studied as a

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 ...

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, though it does not appear that he took a degree. Later he taught at a school, first at Oxford, and then in Warwickshire. In February 1604 he was instituted to the rectory of

Southam Southam () is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England, located about east-southeast of Leamington Spa. In the 2021 census, the population of Southam was 8,114. History Southam was a Royal ...

, In 1625 he was elected a member of Convocation. In 1642 Holyoake was forced from his house by the parliamentarians, his wife was roughly handled, his servant was killed, and his estate of £300 per annum was sequestered, so that he and his family were obliged to subsist on charity.Cal. State Paper, Dom. 1660–1, pp. 133, 350 He died on 13 November 1653, aged 86, and was buried in the church of St. Mary at Warwick.

Works

Holyoake compiled a ''Dictionarie Etymologocall'', which was annexed to ''Riders Dictionarie correct'', 2 pts., London, 1617, an edition of the lexicon of John Rider. The work was re-issued in 1626, with additions by Nicholas Grey, and in 1640. A fourth edition was published as almost Holyoake's own, with the title ''Dictionarium Etymologicum Latinum'', 3 pts., London, 1633. The sixth edition is stated to be ''compositum et absolutum a Francisco de Sacra Quercu'', 1648. His son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...

made major additions to the work, but, dying before he could complete the edition, it was published by Thomas’s son Charles, as ''A large Dictionary in three parts'', London 1677–1676. Francis Holyoake presented a manuscript to Queen's College library, entitled ''Huguccionis, seu Huguitionis, Pisani, ep. Ferrariensis, Lexicon alphabeticum''.

Notes

References

* The entry list these sources: **''Wood’s Athenæ Oxon.'' (Bliss), iii. 346–7; **Frederick Leigh Colvile, ''Worthies of Warwickshire'', pp. 426, 427; **''Cal. State Papers, Dom.'' 1660-1, pp. 133, 232, 350; Brit. Mus. Cat. {{DEFAULTSORT:Holyoake, Francis 1567 births 1653 deaths People from the Borough of North Warwickshire English lexicographers Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford 16th-century English writers 16th-century English male writers 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers