George Frederic Nott
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George Frederick Nott (1767–1841) was an English author and a Church of England
clergy 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 ...
man.


Life

He was the nephew of
John Nott Sir John William Frederic Nott (1 February 1932 – 6 November 2024) was a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Defence from 1981 to 1983 (during the Falklands War). A member of the National Liberal (until 1968) and Conserva ...
. His father, Samuel Nott (1740–1793), M.A. from
Worcester College, Oxford Worcester College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in 1714 by the benefaction of Sir Thomas Cookes, 2nd Baronet (1648–1701) of Norgrove, Worcestershire, whose coat of arms was ad ...
, in 1764, was appointed prebendary of Winchester (1770), rector of Houghton, Hampshire (1776), vicar of Blandford, Dorset, and chaplain to the king. His mother, Augusta (died 1813), was daughter of Pennell Hawkins, serjeant-surgeon to the king, and niece of Sir Cæsar Hawkins. George matriculated at
Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...
, on 30 October 1784, aged seventeen. Graduating B.A. in 1788, he was elected a Fellow of
All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...
, took holy orders, and proceeded M.A. in 1792 (B.D. in 1802, and D.D. in 1807). In 1801 he was proctor in the university, and in 1802 he preached the
Bampton lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have sometimes been biennial ...
, his subject being ‘Religious Enthusiasm.’ The success of these sermons, published in 1803, brought him to the notice of the king, who appointed him sub-preceptor to
Princess Charlotte of Wales Princess Charlotte of Wales may refer to: * Princess Charlotte of Wales (1796–1817) (Charlotte Augusta), the only child of George, Prince of Wales, later King George IV of the United Kingdom ** ''Princess Charlotte of Wales'' (ship), an East In ...
. Much clerical preferment followed. He became prebendary of Colworth,
Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...
, in 1802; perpetual curate of
Stoke Canon Stoke Canon is a small village and civil parish near the confluence of the rivers Exe and Culm on the main A396 between Exeter and Tiverton in the English county of Devon, and the district of East Devon. At the 2001 census, it had a populat ...
,
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
, in 1807; vicar of Broadwinsor,
Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
, in 1808; fourth prebendary of Winchester in 1810; rector of
Harrietsham Harrietsham is a rural and industrial village and civil parish in the Maidstone (borough), Maidstone District of Kent, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 1,504, increasing to 2,113 at the United Kingdo ...
and Woodchurch (in exchange for Broadwinsor) in 1813, and prebendary of Salisbury in 1814. He spent on restoring the rectory-houses and in building schools in the parishes over which he presided. As prebendary of Winchester, he superintended the repairs of the
Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...
. On 6 January 1817, while engaged on this work, he fell a distance of thirty feet, and sustained severe injuries to the head, from which he never wholly recovered. Subsequently he spent much time in Italy, and at Rome purchased many pictures by contemporary artists. He wrote Italian with ease and accuracy. In 1825 he succeeded to the property of his uncle John. He died at his house in the Close at Winchester on 25 October 1841. The sale of his library, consisting of 12,500 volumes and many prints and pictures, took place at Winchester, and lasted thirteen days (11–25 January 1842). Nott's coins, gems, and bronzes were then sold in April in London.


Works

Nott, like his uncle, devoted much time to the study of sixteenth-century literature, and produced an exhaustive edition of the ‘Works of Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, and of Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder’ (1815–16, in two large 4to vols.) While working on what he intended as a new edition of Tottels Miscellany, Nott discovered Wyatt's own album of poems, partly autograph, the Egerton Manuscript, and also the Arundel-Harington Manuscript, an intermediate source of Tottels, in the library of John Harington, and also the Devonshire Manuscript, a manuscript anthology by many hands contemporary with the poet, a source for 16 more poems by Wyatt (as well as numerous misattributions by modern editors). Nott was the first editor of Wyatt's poems from manuscript (as contrasted with the defective texts in Tottels) and of Surrey's, which he found in the Arundel-Harington Manuscript. Highly skilled as a textual editor due to his training in classical philology, Nott did an excellent job of producing the editiones principes of these two authors. Later editors have improved their texts in minor respects, but modern editors (notably Muir and Rebholz) have badly marred their editions of Wyatt by including over 100 poems which are not Wyatt's. Nott's edition is still an important source for the texts of both poets. His biographies of
Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, KG (1516/1517–19 January 1547) was an English nobleman, politician and poet. He was one of the founders of English Renaissance poetry and was the last known person to have been executed at the insistence of King ...
and his son
Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton (25 February 154015 June 1614) was an English aristocrat and courtier. He was suspected throughout his life of being Roman Catholic, and went through periods of royal disfavour, in which his reputation ...
supply recondite information. Nott unwarrantably assumed that nearly all Surrey's poems were addressed to the Lady Geraldine (
Elizabeth Grey, Countess of Kildare Lady Elizabeth FitzGerald, Countess of Kildare (c.1497 – after 1548), was an Anglo-Irish noblewoman, the second wife of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare. Her father was Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset. Her mother, Cecily, was the wea ...
), and gave each a fanciful title based on that assumption. Besides the Bampton lectures and an occasional sermon, Nott also published some translations into Italian, and edited some Italian books. His Italian version of the English ''
Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The Book of Common Prayer (1549), fi ...
'' (‘Libro delle Preghiere Communi’) appeared in 1831. In 1832 he printed at Florence for the first time, with Italian introduction and notes, ‘Fortunatus Siculus ossia l'Avventuroso Ciciliano di Busone da Gubbio: romanzo storico scritto nel MCCCXI.’


References

* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Nott, George Frederick 1767 births 1841 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford