Richard Harris Barham (6 December 1788 – 17 June 1845) was an English cleric of 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, ...
, a novelist and a humorous poet. He was known generally by his pseudonym Thomas Ingoldsby and as the author of ''
The Ingoldsby Legends
''The Ingoldsby Legends'' (full title: ''The Ingoldsby Legends, or Mirth and Marvels'') is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poems written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English c ...
''.
Life
Richard Harris Barham was born in
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
. He was the illegitimate son of a local Alderman, also called Richard Harris Barham and a woman named Elizabeth Ffox. When he was seven years old his father died, leaving him a small estate, part of which was the manor of Tappington, in
Denton, Kent, mentioned frequently in his later work ''
The Ingoldsby Legends
''The Ingoldsby Legends'' (full title: ''The Ingoldsby Legends, or Mirth and Marvels'') is a collection of myths, legends, ghost stories and poems written supposedly by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, actually a pen-name of an English c ...
''. At nine he was sent to
St Paul's School, but his studies were interrupted by an accident that partly crippled his arm for life. Deprived of vigorous bodily activity, he became a great reader and diligent student.
During 1807 he entered
Brasenose College, Oxford
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The l ...
, intending at first to study for the law, but deciding on a clerical career instead. In 1813 he was
ordained and found a country
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 ...
at
Snargate in Romney Marsh, marrying Caroline Smart the following year. While there he wrote his first novel ''Baldwin'', published in 1820. He began his second novel, ''My Cousin Nicholas'', though this was not published until 1834.
in 1821 he moved to London (to 51
Great Queen Street), after gaining a
minor canonry at London's
St. Paul's Cathedral, where he served as a
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
. Three years later he became one of the
priests in ordinary of the King's
Chapel Royal
A chapel royal is an establishment in the British and Canadian royal households serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the royal family.
Historically, the chapel royal was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarc ...
, appointed as rector of
St Mary Magdalen and
St Gregory by St Paul's, living at
Amen Corner in St Paul's Churchyard.
He edited the ''
London Chronicle
The ''London Chronicle'' was an early family newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background ...
'' in 1823, and in 1826 first contributed to ''
Blackwood's Magazine
''Blackwood's Magazine'' was a British magazine and miscellany printed between 1817 and 1980. It was founded by publisher William Blackwood and originally called the ''Edinburgh Monthly Magazine'', but quickly relaunched as ''Blackwood's Edinb ...
''. In 1837 he began to contribute to the recently founded ''
Bentley's Miscellany
''Bentley's Miscellany'' was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.
Contributors
Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dicken ...
'' a series of tales (mostly metrical, some in prose) known as ''The Ingoldsby Legends''. These became popular and were published in collected form in three volumes between 1840 and 1847, and have since appeared in numerous editions. They may perhaps be compared to ''
Hudibras''. The stories are generally whimsical, but based on antiquarian learning. There is also a collection of Barham's miscellaneous poems, edited posthumously by his son, called ''The Ingoldsby Lyrics''.
Barham was a political
Tory
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...
, yet a lifelong friend of the liberal
Sydney Smith
Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Besides his energetic parochial work, he was known for his writing and philosophy, founding the ''Edinburgh Review'', lecturing at the Royal Inst ...
and of
Theodore Hook. Barham, a contributor to the ''
Edinburgh Review
The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929.
''Edinburgh Review'', ...
'', the ''
Literary Gazette'' and
John Gorton
Sir John Grey Gorton (9 September 1911 – 19 May 2002) was an Australian politician, farmer and airman who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Australia, prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971. He held office as the leader of the leade ...
's ''Biographical Dictionary'', also wrote a novel, ''My Cousin Nicholas'' (1834). He died in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
on 17 June 1845, after a long and painful illness.
Legacy
Barham is a character in
George MacDonald Fraser
George MacDonald Fraser (2 April 1925 – 2 January 2008) was a Scottish author and screenwriter. He is best known for a series of works that featured the character Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman. Over the course of his career he wrote eleven n ...
's historical novel ''
Flashman's Lady
''Flashman's Lady'' is a 1977 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the sixth of the Harry Paget Flashman, Flashman novels.
Plot introduction
Presented within the frame of the supposedly discovered historical Flashman Papers, this book descr ...
'', he meets the main character,
Harry Flashman
Sir Harry Paget Flashman is a fictional character created by Thomas Hughes (1822–1896) in the semi-autobiographical '' Tom Brown's School Days'' (1857) and later developed by George MacDonald Fraser (1925–2008). Harry Flashman appears in a ...
, while watching a public execution.
His last poem ''
As I laye a-thynkynge,'' was set to music by the English composer
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
, the song published in 1888. And in 1918 the composer
Cyril Rootham set the same poem, for voice and piano.
There is a Wetherspoons pub in Burgate,
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
, near the cathedral, named ''The Thomas Ingoldsby''.
There is a memorial to him at
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...
.
["Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p. 465: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.]
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*
*Elwin, Malcolm. ''Victorian Wallflowers'', Jonathan Cape, 1934. (chapter 3)
*
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barham, Richard Harris
1788 births
1845 deaths
Writers from London
19th-century pseudonymous writers
Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford
People educated at St Paul's School, London
19th-century English Anglican priests
Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery
Writers from Canterbury
People from Dover District