Robert Nares (9 June 1753,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

– 23 March 1829) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

clergyman, philologist and author.

Life

He was born at York in 1753, the son of James Nares (1715–1783), organist of

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...

and educated at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It derives from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the 1066 Norman Conquest, as d ...

and Christ Church, Oxford. From 1779 to 1783 he lived with the family of

Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, 4th Baronet (23 September 1749 – 24 July 1789) was a Welsh landowner, politician and patron of the arts. The Williams-Wynn baronets had been begun in 1688 by the politician Sir William Williams, 1st Baronet, but had ...

as tutor to his sons

Watkin Watkin is an English surname formed as a diminutive of the name Watt (also Wat), a popular Middle English given name itself derived as a pet form of the name Walter. First found in a small Welsh village in 1629. Within the United Kingdom it is ass ...

and Charles, staying in London and at

Wynnstay Wynnstay is a country house within an important landscaped park 1.3 km (0.75 miles) south-east of Ruabon, near Wrexham, Wales. Wynnstay, previously Watstay, is a famous estate and the family seat of the Wynns. The house was sold in 1948 and i ...

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

. In June 1782 he became vicar of Easton Maudit,

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

and in 1785 vicar of Great Doddington, Northamptonshire. From 1786 to 1788 he was Usher at Westminster School, again as tutor to the Williams-Wynn boys who had been sent there. In 1787 he was appointed Chaplain to the

Duke of York Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of List of English monarchs, English (later List of British monarchs, British) monarchs. ...

and in 1788 he was Assistant preacher at Lincoln's Inn. In 1795 he was appointed Assistant Librarian in the Department of Manuscript at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...

, and four years later was promoted to Keeper of Manuscripts. He became vicar of Dalbury,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

in 1796, rector of

Sharnford Sharnford is a village and civil parish in Blaby of Leicestershire. The parish has a population of about 1,000, measured at the 2011 census as 985. The village is about four miles east of Hinckley, and is near to Aston Flamville, Wigston Parva ...

Canon Residentiary A canon (from the Latin , itself derived from the Greek , , "relating to a rule", "regular") is a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, i ...

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medieva ...

and

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of t ...

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

in 1798,

Archdeacon of Stafford The Archdeacon of Lichfield (called Archdeacon of Stafford until 1980) is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Lichfield who is responsible for pastoral care and discipline of clergy in the Lichfield archdeaconry. The archdeaconry was erected – as ...

in 1801 and Vicar of St Mary's, Reading, from 1805 to 1818 and then of All Hallows,

London Wall The London Wall was a defensive wall first built by the Romans around the strategically important port town of Londinium in AD 200, and is now the name of a modern street in the City of London. It has origins as an initial mound wall and di ...

until his death in 1829. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematic ...

in 1803. He was married three times but had no children.

Works

In 1784 he published his first philological work, ''The Elements of Orthoepy''. The work was highly commended by Boswell. There was a reissue of this book in 1792 with the revised title ''General Rules for the Pronunciation of the English Language''. In 1793 he was founding editor of the ''

British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journ ...

'' with the assistance of his lifelong friend, Rev.

William Beloe William Beloe (1756 – April 11, 1817) was an English divine and miscellaneous writer. Biography Beloe was born at Norwich the son of a tradesman, and received a liberal education. After a day school in Norwich he was schooled under the Rev. Ma ...

. In 1822 he published his principal work, ''Nares' Glossary'', which was described in 1859, by Halliwell and Wright, as indispensable to readers of Elizabethan Literature. In 1819, Nares published ''The Veracity of the Evangelists Demonstrated: by a Comparative View of their Histories''.

References

* "Rev. Archdeacon Nares", ''

The Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' (April 1829) pp. 370–372 *

External links

Robert Nares
at Nares genealogy project {{DEFAULTSORT:Nares, Robert 1753 births 1829 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Stafford Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Fellows of the Royal Society Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford English librarians