Joseph Dornford (1794–1868) was an English churchman and academic, senior tutor of

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, 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 for ...

before becoming rector of

Plymtree Plymtree is a small village and civil parish about 3.5 miles south of the town of Cullompton in the county of Devon, England. The parish is surrounded, clockwise from the north, by the parishes of Broadhembury, Payhembury, Clyst Hydon and Cullomp ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

Early life

Born 9 January 1794, he was the son of Sir Josiah Dornford of

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, Kent, and the half-brother of the writer Josiah Dornford; his mother Esther Fawcett was a Cambridge lady and good friend of the evangelical leader

Charles Simeon Charles Simeon (24 September 1759 – 13 November 1836) was an English Evangelical Anglicanism, evangelical Anglican cleric and biblical commentator who led the evangelical 'Low Church' movement, in reaction to the liturgically and episcopally ...

, and her son Thomas Truebody Thomason by her first marriage was father of

James Thomason James Thomason (3 May 1804 – 17 September 1853) was a British administrator of the East India Company and Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces between 1843 and 1853. Early life The son of Thomas Truebody Thomason, a British cler ...

. He entered young at

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 ...

, which in 1811 he suddenly left to serve as a volunteer in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

In Oxford

After some military service, Dornford returned and entered

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, 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, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

in 1813, where he proceeded B.A. in 1816. In 1817 he was elected to a Michel fellowship at

The Queen's College The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassi ...

, and in 1819 to a fellowship at Oriel College, where he graduated M.A. 1820. In that year he joined the Russian physician Joseph Hamel on an ascent of

Mont Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the second-most prominent mountain in Europe (after Mount E ...

in which three guides were killed. Dornford was successively elected tutor and dean of Oriel; he was ordained 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 1822, and was a university proctor in 1830. He succeeded the very different

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 ...

in the tutorship, in 1823. In that role he played a part in the pre-history of the

Oxford Movement 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 ...

, tentatively supporting innovations by

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 ...

in college teaching. The senior of the four Oriel tutors in 1828 on the election as Provost of

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 ...

, Dornford with Newman,

Hurrell Froude Richard Hurrell Froude (; 25 March 1803 – 28 February 1836) was an Anglican priest and an early leader of the Oxford Movement. Life He was born in Dartington, Devon, the eldest son of Robert Froude ( Archdeacon of Totnes) and the elder bro ...

and

Robert Wilberforce Robert Isaac Wilberforce (19 December 18023 February 1857) was an English clergyman and writer. Early life and education He was second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement. He was educated at Oriel College ...

, he opposed as they did

Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Baronet (5 February 1788 – 2 July 1850), was a British Conservative statesman who twice was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1834–1835, 1841–1846), and simultaneously was Chancellor of the Exchequer (1834–183 ...

's 1829 candidacy for Oxford's seat in parliament, preferring Robert Inglis, against the background of Catholic Emancipation. The tutors innovated without consulting Hawkins, with a system that was more pastoral and clerical. Hawkins, who initially had had time for Newman's views, was an Oriel Noetic and was alienated by the Peel issue. College politics became ever more divisive, as Hawkins objected to the changes in teaching. As the tutorial issue was resolved in 1829 and 1830, Dornford swung his support behind Hawkins.

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 ...

, now a bishop but a past Noetic and Provost of Oriel, reported to Hawkins that Dornford had split from the other tutors, and gave a nuanced analysis of the teaching debate. Froude, Newman and Wilberforce resigned as tutors in 1830.

Later life

In 1832 Dornford was presented by his college to the rectory of Plymtree, and in 1847 he was collated by

Henry Phillpotts Henry Phillpotts (6 May 177818 September 1869), often called "Henry of Exeter", was the Anglican Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to 1869. He was one of England's longest serving bishops since the 14th century. Life Early life Henry Phillpotts ...

a prebendary of

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...

. He died at

on 18 January 1868, aged 74. Dornford's manner was taken to be more that of a soldier than a priest's.

Works

Dornford published sermons. One of these, "The Christian Sacraments", was included in a volume edited by Alexander Watson, ''Sermons for Sundays, Festivals, and Fasts, and other Liturgical Occasions, contributed by bishops and other clergy of the church'' (1845). He wrote an account of the Mont Blanc climb for the ''

New Monthly Magazine ''The New Monthly Magazine'' was a British monthly magazine published from 1814 to 1884. It was founded by Henry Colburn and published by him through to 1845. History Colburn and Frederic Shoberl established ''The New Monthly Magazine and Uni ...

''.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Dornford, Joseph 1794 births 1868 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford