Samuel Wix (1771–1861) was an English cleric and controversialist.

Life

Born in London on 9 February 1771, he was the second son of Edward Wix of St. Peter's, Cornhill. He was educated at

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 ...

under Samuel Berdmore, and was admitted at 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 association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

(16 August 1783). He studied at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 250 graduate students. The c ...

, where he was admitted pensioner on 8 November 1791, and elected scholar on 6 December 1792. He graduated B.A. in 1796 and M.A. in 1799. Wix was ordained deacon in 1798 and priest in 1800. After holding a number of curacies, he was presented in 1802 to the living of

Inworth Inworth is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Messing-cum-Inworth, in the Colchester district, in the county of Essex, England, near to Tiptree Tiptree is a large village and civil parish in the English county o ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Six years later he was elected hospitaller and vicar of St Bartholomew's the Less in London. He was also for a time president of

Sion College Sion College, in London, is an institution founded by royal charter in 1630 as a college, guild of parochial clergy and almshouse, under the 1623 will of Thomas White (benefactor), Thomas White, vicar of St Dunstan's in the West. The clergy who ...

. A fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

. He died at the vicarage, St. Bartholomew's, London, on 4 September 1861. A tablet to his memory was erected in the church by the governors of

St. Bartholomew's Hospital St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 by Rahere, and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust. History Early history Barts was founded in 1123 by Ra ...

Works

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

traditionalist, Wix involved himself in controversy. His first publication was ''Scriptural Illustrations of the Thirty-nine Articles, with a practical Commentary on each … affectionately intended to promote Religious Peace and Unity'',. It was followed in 1818 by a more ambitious eirenicon, published originally in the '' Eclectic Review'', entitled ''Reflections concerning the Expediency of a Council of the Church of England and the Church of Rome being holden, with a view to accommodate Religious Differences''. This produced, among other answers, an angry reply from Thomas Burgess. Wix wrote two rejoinders. ''Reflections'' also attracted the attention of

Jerome, 4th Count de Salis-Soglio Jerome de Salis, Count de Salis-Soglio, DL, JP, FRS (14 February 1771 – 2 October 1836), ''Illustris et Magnificus'', was an Anglo-Grison noble and Irish landowner. Life Jerome, Count de Salis-Soglio, was the eldest surviving son of Pet ...

, who became Wix's lifelong friend, and had the book translated at his own expense into several foreign languages. Wix was opposed to Catholic Emancipation, and in 1822 issued a pamphlet in support of his views. He wrote many similar pamphlets. He also supported the Society for the Improvement of Prison Discipline led by

Basil Montagu Basil Montagu (24 April 1770 – 27 November 1851) was a British jurist, barrister, writer and philanthropist. He was educated at Charterhouse and studied law at Cambridge. He was significantly involved in reforms to bankruptcy laws of Britain. ...

; and wrote ''Reflections Concerning the Expediency and Unchristian Character of Capital Punishments, as Prescribed by the Criminal Laws of England'' (1832).

Family

By his wife, Frances Walford of

Sible Hedingham Sible Hedingham ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the River Colne, Essex, Colne Valley in the Braintree (district), Braintree District of Essex, in England. It has a population of 3,994 according to the 2011 census. Sible Hedingham li ...

, Wix had several children. The eldest son was

Edward Wix Ven. Edward Wix (1802–1866) was an English clergyman best known as an Anglican missionary in Canada. Early life Edward Wix was the eldest son of Samuel Wix (1771-1861), a noted controversialist and high churchman, and his wife Frances Wa ...

(1802–1866), a graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, was sometime archdeacon of Newfoundland, and afterwards vicar of St. Michael's,

Swanmore Swanmore is a rural village and civil parish situated in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England, close to Bishop's Waltham. Swanmore was originally set up to provide homes for workers in local brickworks. As such, the houses in the village are ma ...

, near Ryde, where he died on 24 November 1866, being succeeded in the parish by his son, Richard Hooker Edward Wix (1832–1884). He was a frequent contributor to 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 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term '' ...

'', and the author of ''Six Months of a Newfoundland Missionary's Journal'', 1836, and of ''A Retrospect of the Operations of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in North America'', 2nd edit. 1833.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Wix, Samuel 1771 births 1861 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Anglican clergy from London People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Members of the Inner Temple