John David Chambers, (1805–1893) was an English legal and liturgical writer.

Early life

John David Chambers, eldest son of Captain David Chambers Esq., Royal Navy, of

Harrow Weald Harrow Weald is a suburban district in Greater London, England. Located about north of Harrow, London, Harrow, Harrow Weald is formed from a leafy 1930s suburban development along with ancient woodland of Harrow Weald Common. It forms part of ...

, Middlesex, was born in London in 1805. He was educated at

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 ...

, graduating with honours in 1827 ( MA 1831). He was called to the Bar by the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1831. In 1842 he published an elaborate treatise on the Jurisdiction of the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the Common law#History, common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over ...

over the persons and property of Infants (''On the Equitable Jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery over Infants, Law and Practice of Elections''), and was appointed Recorder of New Sarum (Salisbury) the same year.Foster 1885, p. 80.

Liturgical studies

At Salisbury his attention was specially attracted to the Liturgical and other Ecclesiastical lore appertaining to the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, and to

Saint Osmund Osmund (died 3 December 1099), Count of Sées, was a Norman noble and clergyman. Following the Norman conquest of England, he served as Lord Chancellor (–1078) and as the second bishop of Salisbury, or Old Sarum. Life Osmund, a nati ...

, its Bishop from 1078 to 1099. Saint Osmund compiled from different sources a series of Divine Offices, and Rules for their celebration within his diocese. These Rules were in two parts, the '' Ordinale'', and the '' Consuetudinary''. The use of these Rules became very extensive; and although in certain parts the Uses of

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

, Bangor, and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

varied, yet

John Brompton John Brompton or Bromton (fl. 1436) was a supposed English chronicler. Brompton was elected abbot of Jervaulx in 1436. The authorship of the compilation printed in Roger Twysden's ''Decem Scriptores'' Col. 725-1284, Lond. 1652; with the title '' ...

, the Cistercian Abbot of Jervaulx, writing within a hundred years after Saint Osmund's death, says that these Rules and Offices had been adopted throughout England, Wales, and Ireland.Julian 1907, p. 217. About 1230 (after the opening of the New Cathedral at Salisbury) these Rules were collected and rewritten in a complete volume, entitled ''Tractatus de Officiis Ecclesiasticus'' (MS. in the Cathedral Library). In the mean time the ''Ordinale'' had become partly welded into this ''Consuetudinary'', and partly (especially that portion therein omitted from Maundy Thursday to Easter Eve) incorporated in the ''Breviary'', ''Missal'', ''and Processional'', which had assumed definite shapes. From these materials, together with the aid of several manuscripts and early printed Breviaries, Chambers published a translation of:— This was accompanied with a Preface, notes, and illustrations, together with music from a MS. folio ''Antiphonary'' or ''Breviary'' of the early part of the 14th century, (in the (Salisbury Cathedral Library) collated with a similar MS. folio, both of

Sarum Use The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the liturgical use of the Latin rites developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Reformation. It is largely identical to t ...

. The hymns with their melodies, and the Canticles, were also collated with a MS. of the 14th century.

Personal life

Chambers married, on 7 August 1834, the Honourable Henrietta Laura, third daughter of John, 2nd Lord Wodehouse. He died in London on 22 August 1893 at the age of eighty-eight, having been Recorder of Salisbury for over fifty years.''Bristol Mercury''. 28-08-1893. p. 5

Works

Chambers's publications include:— # ''The Psalter, or Seven Ordinary Hours of Sarum, with the Hymns for the Tear, and the Variations of the York and Hereford Breviaries'', London, 1852. # ''The Encheiridion; or, Book of Daily Devotion of the Ancient English Church according to Sarum Use''. London, 1860. To this a number of the appropriate Hymns and Collects were added. # ''A Companion for Holy Communion for Clergy or Laity; with a Prefatory Office for Confession, from the Ancient English Offices of Sarum Use'', 3rd ed. 1855. This was accompanied with notes and authorities. # ''Lauda Syon, Ancient Latin Hymns of the English and Other Churches, Translated into corresponding Metres'', Part I. 1857; Part II. 1866. # ''An Order of Household Devotion for a Week, with Variations for the Seasons and Festivals, from the Ancient English of Sarum Use''. London, 1854. # ''A Complete & Particular, yet concise account of the mode of conducting Divine Worship in England in the 13th and 14th centuries, contrasted with and adapted to that in use at the Present Time''. London, 1877. # A translation from the original Greek of the genuine works of

Hermes Trismegistus Hermes Trismegistus (from , "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest") is a legendary Hellenistic period figure that originated as a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth.A survey of the literary and archaeological eviden ...

, the Christian Neoplatonist (AD 60), with notes and quotations from the

Fathers A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. A biological fathe ...

Appraisal

Chambers's publications and translations had no small part in stimulating the great change which took place in the mode of worship in 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, ...

in the second half of the nineteenth century. According to

John Julian John Julian (March 26, 1733) was a pirate of multi-racial descent who operated in Americans, as the pilot of the ship '' Whydah''. Julian joined pirate Samuel Bellamy, and became the pilot of Bellamy's '' Whydah'' when he was probably only 16 ye ...

, "His translations of Latin hymns are close, clear and poetical; they have much strength and earnestness, and the rhythm is easy and musical".

References

Sources

* Foster, Joseph, ed. (1885). "Chambers, John David". In ''Men-at-the-Bar''. 2nd ed. London: Hazel, Watson and Viney, Ltd. p. 80. * Julian, John, ed. (1907). "Chambers, John David". In ''A Dictionary of Hymnology''. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc. pp. 216–217. * '' The Bristol Mercury''. 28 August 1893. p
5
* ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 30 August 1893. pp
710

External links

* Ockerbloom, John Mark, ed
"Chambers, John David, 1805-1893"
''

The Online Books Page The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several fe ...

''. Retrieved 4 June 2022. {{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, John David 19th-century English male writers 1805 births 1893 deaths English legal writers 19th-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Writers from London