John Thomlinson (1692–1761) was an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

best known for his

diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

, covering 1715 to 1722.

Life

Thomlinson was born in the small farming village of Blencogo, near

Wigton Wigton is a market town in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It lies just outside the Lake District. Wigton is at the centre of the Solway Plain, between the Caldbeck Fells and the Solway coast. It is served by Wigton railway st ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

, on 29 September 1692, the eldest son of William Thomlinson (1657–1743). He was educated at

Appleby-in-Westmorland Appleby-in-Westmorland is a market town and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England, with a population of 3,048 at the 2011 Census. Crossed by the River Eden, Appleby is the county town of the historic county of Westmorland. ...

and at

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 ...

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used no ...

in 1709. Ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1717, he obtained a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

Rothbury Rothbury is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the River Coquet. It is north-west of Morpeth, Northumberland, Morpeth and north of Newcastle upon Tyne. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, ...

, Northumberland to one of his uncles, also John Thomlinson (1651–1720), who was rector there. He remained at Rothbury after his uncle's death in 1720, and in 1721, for unknown reasons, he moved to

Navestock Navestock is a civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, in the East of England region of the United Kingdom. It is located approximately northwest of the town of Brentwood and the M25 motorway cuts through the western edge of ...

, Essex. The following year he was appointed rector of

Glenfield, Leicestershire Glenfield is a large village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Glenfields, in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England. At the 2011 Census, Glenfields had a population of 9,643. The village is directly to the west of Leices ...

, doubtless thanks to his marriage to Catherine Winstanley, the daughter of his patron, James Winstanley of

Braunston Braunston is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated ju ...

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

. Thomlinson held this post until his death in Glenfield on 5 February 1761.

The Diary

The diary was started in 1715 while Thomlinson was at Cambridge, and before he took

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

. He continued writing it until at least 1722, with several undated entries at the end, from which we learn that he is married, although no record of the marriage can be found: his wife is known only through

monumental inscription {, align=right , 250px, The inscription, carved in stone, on the monument of Sir John Young and Dame Joane, erected in 1606 in Bristol">Bristol Cathedral, Bristol, England. Sir John entertained Elizabeth I of England">Queen Elizabeth when she vi ...

s. Written in the volume in an eighteenth-century

hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...

is a comment which includes a brief description:

he Diary He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

''affords a lively picture of the sordid and selfish views of the writer and of his friends for his advancement, in seeking for a rich wife, and the shameless traffic and trifling with the feelings of many women in this pursuit.'' Ponsonby writes of the diary: ''This is an instance of a diary which, however unpleasing it may be, is quite spontaneous and honest and therefore portrays the character of the writer more vividly than letters or second-hand observations of others could do''. Indeed, this is one of the most captivating, but little-known diaries of the period, rich in antiquarian and literary interest. Thomlinson does not hesitate to criticize his subjects, and reports scandals together with curious and humorous anecdotes, including what is certainly one of the earliest

limericks A limerick ( ) is a form of verse that appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century. In combination with a refrain, it forms a limerick song, a traditional humorous drinking song often with obscene verses. It is written in five-lin ...

. Much of the diary is concerned with the writer's matrimonial concerns, the amount of dowries as much as the characters of the women in question. The original manuscript is now in the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

. Much of the text has been published by the

Surtees Society The Surtees Society is a text publication society and registered charity (No. 1003812) based in Durham in northern England. The society was established on 27 May 1834 by James Raine, following the death (on 11 February) of the renowned Count ...

.''Six North Country Diaries'' edited by J.C. Hodgson. The Publications of The Surtees Society, Andrews & Co., Durham etc., 1910. Vol. CXVIII for the year M.CM.X., pp. 64-168

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomlinson, John 1692 births 1761 deaths 18th-century English diarists 18th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People from Wigton English male non-fiction writers People from Glenfield, Leicestershire