John Griffiths (27 July 1806 – 14 August 1885) was an academic at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, where he was Warden of Wadham College and

Keeper of the Archives The position of Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England dates from 1634, when it was established by new statutes for the university brought in by William Laud (Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University of ...

Life

John Griffiths, the son of a clergyman and schoolteacher also called John Griffiths, was born on 27 July 1806 in

Rochester, Kent Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about east-southeast of London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Kent, Chatham, ...

. He was educated at the

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is a private co-educational all through day and boarding school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral. The school claims to be the second oldest c ...

(his father's school) and at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

, before joining the

as a scholar of

Wadham College Wadham College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy Wadham, a ...

in 1824. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1827, and was made a

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of Wadham in 1830, lecturing in classics and then in divinity. He was ordained as a priest 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 1828, and became preacher at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall in 1854. He was one of the "Four Tutors" who protested in March 1841 against the Anglo-Catholic

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 ...

Tract 90 ''Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles'', better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published 25 January 1841. It is the most famous and the most c ...

, despite his dislike of controversy. He later explained that he disliked the anonymous basis on which the tract had been published, with an implicit link to the university, as well as its content. His fellowship at Wadham lasted until 1854 under the statutes prevailing at the time, and he then resigned and moved to

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick is a Thamesside area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England, contiguous with Teddington, Kingston upon Thames and Bushy Park. Market gardening continued until well into the twentieth century. With its road and rail ...

. Appointed as

in 1857 (a position he held until his death), he returned to Oxford. In 1871, reluctantly, he became Warden of Wadham, resigning in 1881. He also served on various committees and held other administrative positions within the university. His publications include editions of classical texts, and some works connected with Oxford: ''An Index to Wills Proved in the Court of the Chancellor of the University of Oxford'' (1862), and an edition of the

Laudian Laudianism, also called Old High Churchmanship, or Orthodox Anglicanism as they styled themselves when debating the Tractarians, was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England that tried to avoid the extremes of Rom ...

university statutes (1888). He collected medals and prints, and sold one Rembrandt etching for £1,510 in May 1883 (equivalent to about £ in present-day terms) – at that time, the highest price paid for one print. He was known as a courteous and hospitable man, formal in his dress and behaviour, and rather reserved (which seemed not to help relations with Wadham's undergraduates). He died in his home in Oxford on 14 August 1885.

References

External links

*
The grave of John and Sophia Griffiths in St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, with biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, John 1806 births 1885 deaths People educated at King's School, Rochester People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford Wardens of Wadham College, Oxford English archivists 19th-century English historians English classical scholars Keepers of the Archives of the University of Oxford English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers Burials at St Sepulchre's Cemetery