Richard Valpy (7 December 1754 – 28 March 1836) was a British schoolmaster and priest 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, ...

. He is best known as the head master of Reading Grammar School, in the town of

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, England.

Life and career

Valpy was born the eldest son of Richard and Catherine Valpy in

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

. He was sent to schools in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and completed his education at

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

. In 1777 he was ordained. After holding a mastership at Bury, in 1781 he became head master of

Reading School Reading School is a state grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England, alth ...

, a post which he held for 50 years. From 1787 he held also the rectory of Stradishall, Suffolk. During the early part of Valpy's long head-mastership the school flourished greatly. At least 120 boys attended it. He was the author of Greek and Latin grammars which enjoyed a large circulation. His Greek ''Delectus'' and Latin ''Delectus'' were long familiar to public school boys. He is said to have been a mighty flogger, and to have refused two bishoprics. In 1800 he was requested by his old pupils to sit for a full-length portrait and 30 years later, on the occasion of his jubilee, he was presented with a service of plate. Mary Russell Mitford spoken of him as vainer than a peacock. The school was declining before Valpy's long reign closed. His successor was his son, Francis Valpy (1797-1882), appointed in 1830. Richard Valpy died in London. He is buried in a mausoleum in front of the main chapel in

Kensal Green Cemetery Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in the Kensal Green area of North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in London, England. Inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in P ...

. A statue was erected in Reading's St Lawrence's Church to commemorate him. Valpy Street, in Reading town centre and adjacent to the then site of Reading Grammar School, is named after him. He was also the father of printer and publisher Abraham John Valpy and of New Zealand pioneer William Henry Valpy.

Bowdlerisation

"The Second part of King Henry the Fourth, altered from William Shakespeare as it was acted at Reading School in October 1801. Published as it was performed for the benefit of the Humane Society" By Richard Valpy. "WHEN the First Part of King Henry the Fourth was played at Reading School, it was sufficient to curtail some tedious pages, and to omit some exceptionable expressions. In the Second Part it was absolutely necessary to do more. This Play in the original is disfigured not only with indelicate speeches, but with characters that cannot now be tolerated on a public theatre."

References

Sources

* * * "The Town of Reading during the early part of the Nineteenth century", (1910). By W. M. Childs, M.A., Principal of University College, Reading. (Available onlin
The Town of Reading during the early part of the Nineteenth century
)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valpy, Richard 1754 births 1836 deaths Heads of schools in England 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests Jersey Anglicans Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery People from Reading, Berkshire Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Valpy–Fulton–Jeffreys family 18th-century British educators 19th-century British educators