Richard Izacke (16241698) of Devon was an antiquarian and lawyer who served as Chamberlain of the

City of Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

. His history, ''Antiquities of the City of Exeter'', was first published in 1677.

Biography

Baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

on 8 February 1624 at

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fair ...

, he was the eldest son of Samuel Izacke of Exeter, who was apparently a lawyer and member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and W ...

(1617). On 20 April 1641, Izacke was admitted as

commoner A commoner, also known as the ''common man'', ''commoners'', the ''common people'' or the ''masses'', was in earlier use an ordinary person in a community or nation who did not have any significant social status, especially a member of neither ...

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, but left the university at the end of 1642 because of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polic ...

. In November 1641 he entered the Inner Temple and was called to the bar in 1650. On 25 October 1653 he became Chamberlain of Exeter and on 15 December 1681

Town Clerk A clerk is a senior official of many municipal governments in the English-speaking world. In some communities, including most in the United States, the position is elected, but in many others, the clerk is appointed to their post. In the UK, a To ...

of Exeter. By his wife Katherine, of unknown family, he had children including

Samuel Izacke Samuel Izacke () of Devon was Chamberlain of the City of Exeter and an antiquarian. He was the son of Richard Izacke Richard Izacke (16241698) of Devon was an antiquarian and lawyer who served as Chamberlain of the City of Exeter. His history ...

(born 1663), who also became Chamberlain of Exeter and an antiquarian. Izacke's father died in 1681 or 1682 and according to his will, Richard had behaved badly towards him by "his disobedience in his marriage". Despite this he bequeathed him a house in Holy Trinity parish, Exeter and leasehold property in Tipton, Ottery St. Mary, on the condition that he behaved well towards his stepmother, brothers, and sisters in the future. Izacke was buried in Ottery St Mary parish church on 18 March 1698.

Works

As Chamberlain of Exeter, Izacke could access the city's archives and using these resources he produced a manuscript history of the city, dedicating it to the city's corporation in 1665. The history was first published in London in 1677 as ''Antiquities of the City of Exeter''. Later editions were undertaken by his son Samuel, and had greatly expanded titles. The largest section of the first edition consists of 180 pages of "Memorials": short descriptions of events related to Exeter, ordered by year from 1200 to 1676. Research has shown that the entries up to 1590 were substantially copied from a manuscript chronicle in the city archives that had been written by

John Hooker John Hooker may refer to: *John Hooker (English constitutionalist) (c. 1527–1601), English writer, solicitor, antiquary, civic administrator and advocate of republican government *John Lee Hooker (1912–2001), American blues singer-songwriter an ...

, the first Chamberlain of Exeter, who had died in 1601. Izacke's unacknowledged and sometimes inaccurate plagiarism of Hooker's work, as well as the errors that he himself made, have caused his ''History'' to be subjected to much criticism. However, despite its faults, the book was republished seven times up to 1757. After a reprint of the first edition in 1681, there was a gap of over forty years before the second edition was published by Izacke's son Samuel. Following this there were five more reissues, all with unchanged text, but slightly different title pages. Izacke's manuscript history of 1665 provided the content for another book, first published in 1736 by his grandson (also named Samuel). This was about legacies left to the poor. Four further editions were published under various titles, the last in 1820.

Published editions

*Izacke, Richard, (improved and continued to the year 1724 by Samuel Izacke), ''Remarkable Antiquities of the City of Exeter'', 3rd Edition, London, 173

Biography

Works

Published editions

Notes

References

Further reading