Matthew Pilkington (1701–1774),
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...
priest, writer, and art historian, was the author of a standard text on painters that became known as ''Pilkington's Dictionary''. His first wife was the poet and memoirist
Laetitia Pilkington
Laetitia Pilkington (born Laetitia van Lewen; ''c.'' 1709 – 29 July 1750) was an Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant ...
and their second son was the singer and writer
John Carteret Pilkington.
Career
Born in 1701 in
King's County, his parents were William Pilkington, originally a watchmaker who later kept a Dublin alehouse and died in 1748, and his wife Alice, who died in 1749. He entered
Trinity College Dublin
Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...
, where he was
elected a Scholar in 1721 and graduated
BA in 1722, and was 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 the Church of Ireland in 1723. By 1725, when he qualified for an
MA, he was a
reader in
St Andrew's Church, Dublin and was courting a parishioner, Laetitia van Lewen. The pair married on 31 May and both became friends of
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish writer, essayist, satirist, and Anglican cleric. In 1713, he became the Dean (Christianity), dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, and was given the sobriquet "Dean Swi ...
, the
Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, who encouraged their gifts for poetry and satire and introduced them to other Irish literary figures such as
Mary Barber,
Constantia Grierson and
Patrick Delany.
Through Swift's influence, Matthew obtained the post of chaplain to the
Lord Mayor of London
The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...
in 1732 and, leaving Laetitia in Dublin, mixed with leading figures on the English theatrical and literary scene, including
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
. However, he also antagonised influential people and was imprisoned in 1734. Going quietly back to Dublin after his release, he had lost the support of most Irish literary figures, including Swift, and instead associated with such characters as the rascally painter
James Worsdale and
Edward Walpole
Sir Edward Walpole Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath, KB Privy Council of Ireland, PC (Ire) (1706 – 12 January 1784) was a British politician, and a younger son of Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of Great Britain, Prime Minister fr ...
, the prime minister's dissolute son. There followed a very public rupture with Laetitia, ending in an