John Richardson Major (1797 – 29 February 1876) was a

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, ...

clergyman who spent most of his life as a

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

. He served as Master of

Wisbech Grammar School Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 Mixed-sex education, co-educational, Church of England, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Day school, day and boarding school in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Gui ...

and later as the first head master of

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...

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Early life

The son of another John Major, the young Major was educated at

Reading School Reading School is a state grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England, alth ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he was admitted as a

sizar At Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an Undergraduate education, undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in retur ...

in May 1814, aged seventeen. He was elected to a scholarship in 1818 and graduated BA the next year, proceeding to MA by seniority in 1827.“MAJOR, John Richardson” in John A. Venn, ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'', Part II, Vol. 4 (1951)
p. 296
/ref>

Career

On 24 December 1820, Major was ordained a deacon of the Church of England and was appointed at once as a curate at

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road (England), A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, coverin ...

, Norfolk, where he remained until 1826. In June 1821, in Norwich, he was ordained a priest. In 1826 he was appointed as Master of

and in 1831 as the first head of the new King's College School, which was established as the junior department of the recently founded

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He remained in post there until 1866. The new school at first occupied the basement of the college building in the

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. It was launched as a day school with eighty-five pupils, most of whom lived within walking distance. Members of the teaching staff included Gabriele Rossetti, who taught Italian, whose son,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

, joined the school in 1837. Another early schoolmaster was the artist

John Sell Cotman John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English Marine art, marine and Landscape painting, landscape painter, Etching, etcher, illustrator, and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, the son of a si ...

. The school grew quickly, and by 1843 was teaching five hundred boys.Frank Miles, Graeme Cranch, ''King's College School: The First 150 Years'' (London: King's College School, 1979), pp. 5–12 Major was Vicar of

Wartling Wartling is a village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex, England. It lies between Bexhill and Hailsham, at the northern edge of the Pevensey Levels. The parish includes Boreham Street, north-east of Wartling on the A271 ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, from 1846 to 1851, holding the

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

while continuing in post at King's College School. In his retirement, he became Vicar of Arrington, Cambridgeshire, from 1871 until his death. Major was the author of many religious and classical books and was awarded the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonly are DD (Doctor of Div ...

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. He died at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in February 1876. The Major house at King's College School is named after him.

Selected publications

*''The Medea of Euripides, from the Text, and with a Translation'' (1829) *''The Orestes of Euripides'' (1830) *''The Phœnissæ of Euripides, from the Text, and with a Translation'' (1830) *''Latin Exercises for the Use of the Junior Classes in King's College School'' (1838) *''The Hecuba of Euripides'' (1840) *''The Æneid of Virgil'' (London: John W. Parker, 1845) *''The Gospel According to St. Mark: in the Original Greek, with a Digest'' (1871)

Notes

External links

*
John Richardson Major D.D. Photograph

Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, England, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the W ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Major, John Richardson 1797 births 1876 deaths 19th-century English educators Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Doctors of Divinity Head Masters of King's College School People educated at Reading School