John Symonds (23 January 1730 – 18 February 1807) was an English academic, who became professor of modern history at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Biography

Born at

Horringer Horringer, formerly also called Horningsheath, is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. It lies on the A143 about two miles south-west of Bury St Edmunds. The population in 2011 was 1055. Herit ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, he was the eldest son of Rev. John Symonds (died 1757), rector of the parish, by his wife, Mary Spring (died 1774), daughter of Sir Thomas Spring, 3rd Baronet of Pakenham and Hon. Merelina Jermyn, daughter of

Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn Thomas Jermyn, 2nd Baron Jermyn (10 November 1633 – 1 April 1703) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons from 1679 until he inherited a peerage in 1684. Biography Jermyn was the son of Thomas ...

. His younger brother was British Naval Captain Thomas Symonds, who was the father of Admiral Sir

William Symonds Sir William Symonds CB FRS (24 September 1782 – 30 March 1856, aboard the French steamship ''Nil'', Strait of Bonifacio, Sardinia)St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, graduating B.A. in 1752. In 1753, he was elected a fellow of

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, and he proceeded M.A. in 1754. He was admitted to the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

in 1747, and was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

in 1756. In 1771, Symonds was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History on the death of

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

and in the following year he was created LL.D. by royal mandate and migrated to

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

. He died, unmarried, on 18 February 1807, at

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

, where he acted as

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

, and was buried at

Pakenham, Suffolk Pakenham is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk in eastern England. Its name can be linked to Anglo-Saxon roots, Pacca being the founder of a settlement on the hill surrounding Pakenham church. The village descr ...

. In his will, Symonds gave directions for the donation of books to the Historical Library at Cambridge. He is regarded as the founder of the library.

Works

Symonds was the author of: *''Remarks on an Essay on the History of Colonisation'' (on a work by William Barron), London, 1778 *''The Expediency of revising the Present Edition of the Gospels and Acts of the Apostles'', Cambridge, 1789 *''The Expediency of revising the Epistles'', Cambridge, 1794 He also contributed to Arthur Young's ''Annals of Agriculture''.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Symonds, John 1730 births 1807 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of Peterhouse, Cambridge English barristers People from Horringer

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

Regius Professors of History (Cambridge)