Samuel Berdmore D.D. (29 May 1739 – 20 January 1802) was an English cleric,

schoolmaster A schoolmaster, or simply master, is a male school teacher. The usage first occurred in England in the Late Middle Ages and early modern period. At that time, most schools were one-room or two-room schools and had only one or two such teacher ...

, and author, master of

Charterhouse School Charterhouse is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Godalming, Surrey, England. Founded by Thomas Sutton in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian monastery in Charter ...

from 1769.

Early life

He was the son of the Rev. Thomas Berdmore and his wife Mary, born in Nottingham on 29 May 1739;

Thomas Berdmore Thomas Berdmore (c.1740–1785) was dentist to King George III of Great Britain. Life He may have been apprenticed to Mark Skelton of Sheffield, Surgeon, in 1755 for the sum of £85. In due course he became renowned as the King's Dentist, under G ...

the dentist was his brother, and left him a legacy on his death in 1785, at age 45. Their father was vicar of

St Mary's Church, Nottingham The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest parish churchDomesday Book: A Complete Translation (Penguin Classics) of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. The church is Grade I listed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Spo ...

, and died in 1743, succeeded there by

Scrope Berdmore Rev. Scrope Berdmore (19 February 1708 – 16 February 1770) was an English clergyman. His father was Samuel Berdmore and his mother was Martha Scrope. He matriculated from Merton College, Oxford in 1724, gained his BA in 1728, MA in 1732, ...

, son of

Samuel Berdmore Samuel Berdmore (before 1693 – 24 March 1742/3Notes on the churches of Nottinghamshire: Hundred of Bingham. John Thomas Godfrey. 1907) was an English clergyman. Berdmore was the fourth son of Edward Berdmore of Worcester. He was educ ...

. Berdmore received his education as a foundation scholar at Charterhouse School, from 1749. He matriculated as a

sizar At Trinity College Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an Undergraduate education, undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in retur ...

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

in 1755, graduating B.A. in 1759 as the second wrangler, was elected a Fellow of the college, and proceeded to the degree of M.A. in 1762. Around 1763, the year in which he took orders as a deacon, he was an usher teaching Latin at Nottingham Free School. That year he became vicar of

Whittlesford Whittlesford is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, and also the name of an old hundred. The village is situated on the Granta branch of the River Cam, seven miles south of Cambridge. Whittlesford Parkway railway station serves the village. L ...

near Cambridge, holding the living to 1771.

Charterhouse School

Berdmore was elected master of Charterhouse School in 1769, succeeding Lewis Crusius, and being the first Charterhouse scholarship boy to rise to the position. Under the school's system his title was Schoolmaster, the Master being separately appointed: on a vacancy in 1778, William Ramsden was brought in as Master over Berdmore's head. The school was in London's

Charterhouse Square Charterhouse Square is a garden square, a pentagonal space, in Farringdon, in the London Borough of Islington, and close to the former Smithfield Meat Market. The square is the largest courtyard or yard associated with the London Charterhouse ...

, and had initially about two dozen boarders. Archbishop

Frederick Cornwallis Frederick Cornwallis (5 March 1713 – 19 March 1783) was a British clergy member who served as Archbishop of Canterbury after a career in the Church of England. He was born the seventh son of an aristocratic family. Early life and education C ...

conferred on Berdmore a

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonly are DD (Doctor of Div ...

of D.D. 7 June 1773. He resigned the post in 1791. He was succeeded by Matthew Raine,

Charles Burney Charles Burney (7 April 1726 – 12 April 1814) was an English music historian, composer and musician. He was the father of the writers Frances Burney and Sarah Burney, of the explorer James Burney, and of Charles Burney, a classicis ...

being one of the unsuccessful candidates. Burney had been at Charterhouse from 1768, aged 10, and after an early misdemeanour at Cambridge hoped to improve his current position, head of a school at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

. Berdmore was writing to him, from 1790. Burney contacted Francis Wollaston, who had been at Charterhouse with him, in 1786. Francis Wollaston the elder, a resident of Charterhouse Square, answered making plain that the past was not forgotten.

Associations

John Timbs John Timbs (; 17 August 1801 – 6 March 1875) was an English author and antiquary. Some of his work was published under the pseudonym of Horace Welby. Biography Timbs was born in 1801 in Clerkenwell, London. He was educated at a private school ...

in his ''Club Life of London'' placed Berdmore, who "abounded in anecdote", in the group who met in the box corner of the Chapter Coffee-House off

Paternoster Row Paternoster Row is a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area call ...

, some way south of the school. He is associated there with

Joseph Towers Joseph Towers (31 March 1737 – 20 May 1799) was an English Dissenter and biographer. Life and work He was born in Southwark on 31 March 1737. His father was a secondhand bookseller, and at the age of 12 he was employed as a stationer's errand ...

and John Walker the lexicographer. Berdmore was a member of the Unincreasable Club that met in the Queen's Head pub in

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

; its members included the painter George Romney. Other members were William Long, Daniel Braithwaite FRS and George Nicol. An associate of

Isaac Reed Isaac Reed (1 January 1742 – 5 January 1807) was an English writer and Shakespearean scholar. He is best known for collaborating with Samuel Johnson and George Steevens to edit ''The Plays of William Shakespeare'' and publishing a critical edit ...

, both at the Unincreasable Club, and as a writer for the ''

European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Rev ...

'' edited by Reed, Berdmore appears in Reed's diary, dining on one occasion at

Richard Farmer Richard Farmer FRS FSA (1735–1797) was a Shakespearean scholar and Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He is known for his ''Essay on the Learning of Shakespeare'' (1767), in which he maintained that Shakespeare's knowledge of the classi ...

's house and encountering there another Shakespearean scholar,

Edmond Malone Edmond Malone (4 October 174125 May 1812) was an Irish barrister, Shakespearean scholar and Literary editor, editor of the works of William Shakespeare. Assured of an income after the death of his father in 1774, Malone was able to give up his ...

. A poem "My Club" published in 1795 included Berdmore with a group of the friends of

Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. ...

, then a fashionable poet. Others mentioned were

John Gillies John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

, William Marsden,

James Rennell Major (United Kingdom), Major James Rennell (3 December 1742 – 29 March 1830) was an English geographer, historian and a pioneer of oceanography. Rennell produced some of the first accurate maps of Bengal at one inch to five miles as well as a ...

and

William Seward William Henry Seward (; May 16, 1801 – October 10, 1872) was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of State from 1861 to 1869, and earlier served as governor of New York and as a United States senator. A determined opp ...

Later life

Berdmore died at his house, in Southampton Row, London, on 20 January 1802, and was buried in the

London Charterhouse The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Clerkenwell, London, dating to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square, and lies within the London Borough of Islington. It was originally built (and ...

on 30 January.

Works

Berdmore wrote a book of literary criticism, ''Specimens of Literary Resemblance in the works of Pope, Gray, and other celebrated writers; with critical observations: in a series of letters'', London, 1801. It was addressed to the Rev. Peter Forster, rector of Hedenham, Norfolk, a contemporary at Jesus College,. Henry Meen, a contemporary, saw it as a vehicle for attacks on

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

, Richard Hurd,

William Warburton William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare. Lif ...

and others. In 1800, a year before the publication of the ''Specimens of Literary Resemblance'', Berdmore wrote under the pseudonym "O. P. C." an article for the ''European Magazine'', "Observations on the Two Pindaric Odes of Gray". In this fashion Berdmore involved himself in discussion of Gray's ''Pindaric Odes'' in particular, siding with

Gilbert Wakefield Gilbert Wakefield (1756–1801) was an English scholar and controversialist. He moved from being a cleric and academic, into tutoring at dissenting academies, and finally became a professional writer and publicist. In a celebrated state trial ...

, whom he had taught at Nottingham, against

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

's comments. '' The Monthly Review'' took the book to be mounting an assault on Hurd's theory in ''Discourse on Imitation'' (1751). '' The Critical Review'' gave as an example of Berdmore's method the parallel found between a sermon by Samuel Ogden and a passage in

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

. Berdmore edited ''Lusus Poetici ex ludo literario apud Ædes Carthusianas Londini. Quibus accessere orationes binæ in Suttoni laudem in Ædibus Carthusianis habitæ'', 1791. It consisted of school orations in Latin. One of those dwelled on the case of

Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough Edward Law, 1st Baron Ellenborough (16 November 1750 – 13 December 1818), was an English judge. After serving as a member of parliament and Attorney General, he became Lord Chief Justice. Early life Law was born at Great Salkeld, in Cumber ...

, a Charterhouse foundation scholar who became a Governor of the school.

Family

Berdmore married in 1769 Maria Matthews, at St Philip's, Birmingham. They had a son Thomas (bapt. 1773), who was admitted to

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1795.

Notes

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berdmore, Samuel 1739 births 1802 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English writers English educators People from Nottingham People educated at Charterhouse School Headmasters of Charterhouse School