Stephen Hyde Cassan (1789–1841) was an English Anglican priest and ecclesiastical biographer. Stephen Hyde Cassan 1829

Life

The son of Stephen Cassan, a barrister, and his wife Sarah, daughter of Charles Mears, he was born in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, where his father was sheriff. John Hyde was his godfather. He was educated at

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, took his B.A. degree on 14 January 1815, received deacon's orders on 26 March following, and was ordained priest the next year. While curate of

Frome, Somerset Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

, in 1820, Cassan made a runaway match with Fanny, daughter of the late Rev. William Ireland who had been vicar of that parish. This marriage occasioned considerable scandal, and led to legal proceedings.An account is in two pamphlets published at Bath in 1821: ''A Report of the Trial, Cassan v. Ireland, for Defamation''; and the other by Cassan, ''Who wrote the Letters, or a Statement of Facts''. Moving from Frome, he held the curacy of

Mere, Wiltshire Mere is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the extreme southwestern tip of Salisbury Plain, close to the borders of Somerset and Dorset. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlets of ...

, until 1831, when he was presented by Sir Colt Hoare to the living of

Bruton Bruton ( ) is a small market town, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, north-west of Gillingham ...

with

Wyke Champflower Bruton ( ) is a small market town, and civil parish in Somerset, England, on the River Brue and the A359 between Frome and Yeovil. It is south-east of Shepton Mallet, just south of Snakelake Hill and Coombe Hill, north-west of Gillingham a ...

. He was also chaplain to the Earl of Caledon and to the

Duke of Cambridge Duke of Cambridge is a hereditary title of nobility in the British royal family, one of several royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom. The title is named after the city of Cambridge in England. It is heritable by agnatic, male descendants by pr ...

. Cassan was elected a fellow of 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 ...

in 1829. After suffering from mental illness for two years, he died on 19 July 1841. His son,

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

, was a prominent

West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...

cricketer who played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is of three or more days scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officially adju ...

Works

With a large family and money troubles, Cassan wrote books by subscription. Besides pamphlets he published: * ''The Sin of Schism, and the Protestant Episcopal Church proved to be the only safe means of Salvation, a Sermon preached in the Parish Church of Frome'', 1819; 2nd ed., with appendix, 1820. This was answered by ''A Word of Advice to the Curate of Frome'', 1820. * ''Lives and Memoirs of the Bishops of Sherborne and Salisbury'', 1824. * A volume of sermons, 1827. * ''Lives of the Bishops of Winchester'', 1827, 2 vols. * ''Lives of the Bishops of Bath and Wells'', 1830. Cassan compiled and circulated family genealogies, and contributed genealogical notices 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 '' ...

''.

Notes

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassan, Stephen Hyde 1789 births 1841 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English biographers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London