John Davison (1777–1834) was an English clergyman and academic, known as a theological writer.

Life

He was born at Morpeth, where his father was a schoolmaster, but brought up in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

. He was educated at Durham cathedral school, and in 1794 entered

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 ...

. There he obtained a Craven scholarship in 1796, and was elected Fellow of

Oriel College Oriel College () is 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 formerly claimed by University College, ...

in 1800. In 1810 he became one of the tutors of Oriel. In 1817 Davison was presented by

Lord Liverpool Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 – 4 December 1828) was a British Tory statesman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1812 to 1827. Before becoming Prime Minister he had been Foreign Secretary, ...

to the vicarage of Sutterton, near

Boston, Lincolnshire Boston is a market town and inland port in the borough of the same name in the county of Lincolnshire, England. It lies to the south-east of Lincoln, east of Nottingham and north-east of Peterborough. The town had a population of 45,339 at ...

. Subsequent preferment was to the rectory of Washington, Durham, in 1818, and in 1826 to that of

Upton-upon-Severn Upton-upon-Severn (or Upton on Severn, etc. and locally simply Upton) is a small riverside town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England. Lying on the A4104 (formerly A440), the 2021 census recorded a population ...

. For a few years he held the prebend of Sneating in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, and in 1826, on the recommendation of Lord Liverpool, he was made a prebendary of

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and Blessed Mary the Virgin, is a Church of England cathedral in Worcester, England, Worcester, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Worcester and is the Mother Church# ...

. Davison died 6 May 1834 at

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, where he had gone for his health. He was buried in the chancel of Worcester Cathedral.

Views

In relation to the

Oriel Noetics The Oriel Noetics is a term now applied to a group of early 19th-century dons of the University of Oxford closely associated with Oriel College. John Tulloch in 1885 wrote about them as the "early Oriel school" of theologians, the contrast being ...

, Davison wrote in support of

Edward Copleston Edward Copleston (2 February 177614 October 1849) was an English churchman and academic, Provost of Oriel College, Oxford, from 1814 till 1828 and Bishop of Llandaff from 1827. Life Born into an ancient West Country family, Copleston was born ...

's campaign for reform of Oxford teaching, but stood on the conservative side of the group. With

Edward Hawkins Edward Hawkins (27 February 1789 – 18 November 1882) was an English churchman and academic, a long-serving Provost of Oriel College, Oxford known as a committed opponent of the Oxford Movement from its beginnings in his college. Life He was bo ...

he was chary of the liberal stance of some Noetics, in particular

Richard Whately Richard Whately (1 February 1787 – 8 October 1863) was an English academic, rhetorician, logician, philosopher, economist, and theologian who also served as a reforming Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland), Church of Ireland Archbishop of ...

and

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were widel ...

; but (unlike Hawkins) he was sympathetic to the early moves of

John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, is named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...

and the

Tractarians 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 ...

of the "Oxford Movement". Along with Copleston he contributed to the "liberal Tory" strand of the debate on the

poor laws The English Poor Laws were a system of poor relief in England and Wales that developed out of the codification of late-medieval and Tudor-era laws in 1587–1598. The system continued until the modern welfare state emerged in the late 1940s. E ...

. Davidson, with Coplestone and Whately, formed a group in the Noetics of political economists in the sense of

Robert Malthus Thomas Robert Malthus (; 13/14 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Mal ...

Works

In theology Davison was a conservative. Finding radical and views on political questions in his parish, he opposed them in a tract, ''Dialogue between a Christian and a Reformer''. Davison's major work was his

Warburtonian lectures The Warburton Lectures (until the end of the nineteenth century often called the Warburtonian Lectures) are a series of theology lectures held in Lincoln's Inn, London. They were established in 1768 with money given by William Warburton, and were i ...

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

, published as ''Discourses on Prophecy, in which are considered its Structure, Use, and Inspiration''. It stressed to the moral element, and the progressive character of prophetic revelations. ''An Inquiry into the Origin and Intent of Primitive Sacrifice, and the Scripture Evidence respecting it; with observations on the opinions of Spencer, Bishop Warburton, Archbishop Magee, and other writers on the same subject. And some reflections on the Unitarian Controversy'' (1825) had this commentary from the writer of the preface to Davison's ''Remains and Occasional Publications'': "...sacrifices, eucharistical and penitentiary, might be, and probably were, of human origin, though presently sanctioned by divine approbation; but that the idea of expiatory sacrifice was clearly supernatural". Davison was an occasional contributor to the ''

Quarterly Review The ''Quarterly Review'' was a literary and political periodical founded in March 1809 by London publishing house John Murray. It ceased publication in 1967. It was referred to as ''The London Quarterly Review'', as reprinted by Leonard Scott, f ...

''. Another of his publications was ''Considerations on the Poor Laws''. He maintained that the law according relief to able-bodied poor should be gradually repealed. He felt that changes in law might become detrimental to the poor if too rapidly introduced. His proposal was that the law should cease to be operative in ten years, and that then a voluntary contribution should be made for cases of great need. ''Some Points on the Question of the Silk Trade stated'', in a letter to

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

, took a similar line, prompted by the collapse of the silk English industry. He also published sermons preached on public occasions. Davison used the pseudonym "Phileleutheros Orielensis" in commenting on the ''Elements of General Knowledge'' (1802) of

Henry Kett Henry Kett (12 February 1761 – 30 June 1825) was a versatile English clergyman, academic and writer. Life Son of Benjamin and Mary Kett, he was born in the parish of St. Peter's Mancroft, Norwich, 12 February 1761. His father was a cordwainer ...

.''

Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'', Kett, Henry (1761–1825), miscellaneous writer, by W. P. Courtney. Published 1892.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Davison, John 1777 births 1834 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English theologians Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford English male non-fiction writers