Thomas Bowdler the Younger (1782–1856) was an

Anglican priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, who wrote a memoir of his father, John Bowdler, and his uncle,

Thomas Bowdler Thomas Bowdler (; 11 July 1754 – 24 February 1825) was an English physician known for publishing '' The Family Shakespeare'', an expurgated edition of William Shakespeare's plays edited by his sister Henrietta Maria Bowdler. The two sought ...

the elder. He was also editor of an expurgated version of Edward Gibbon's ''

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...

'', as prepared by his uncle.

Life

Thomas Bowdler was born on 13 March 1782, the eldest son of the lawyer and moral reformer, John Bowdler. His brother was John Bowdler the Younger, who became a lawyer. He was educated at

Hyde Abbey School Hyde Abbey School was a British independent school in Winchester, Hampshire, England. The school was founded by the Reverend Reynell Cotton in 1760. Following his death in 1779, Cotton was succeeded as headmaster by his son-in-law, the Reverend ...

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

, and at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, where he proceeded B. A. in 1803, and M.A. in 1806. In 1803 he was appointed curate of

Leyton, Essex Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford, London, Stratford to the south, with Clapton, London, Clapton, Hackney Wick ...

; and after holding the livings of Ash and Ridley, and of

Addington, Kent Addington is a village in the English county of Kent. It is close to the M20 motorway, and between the villages of Wrotham Heath and West Malling. In the Domesday Book of 1086 it is called Eddintune. The meaning of the village's name is "Ædd ...

, he became in 1834 incumbent of the church at

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

. He took an active part in opposing the

Tractarian The Oxford Movement was a theological movement of high-church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the Uni ...

movement around 1840. In 1846 he became secretary of the Church Building Society, which his father had been instrumental in founding. On 7 December 1849 he received a prebend in St Paul's Cathedral. He died on 12 November 1856.

Works

Collections of his sermons were published in 1820, 1834, and 1846. In 1825 was published his memoir of his father and uncle, ''Memoir of the Late John Bowdler, Esq., To Which Is Added, Some Account of the Late Thomas Bowdler, Esq. Editor of the Family Shakspeare''.Title search

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the O ...

, accessed 17 December 2011 He edited with Launcelot Sharpe the Greek version of the ''Devotions'' of

Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chi ...

. He was also editor of the expurgated edition of

Edward Gibbon Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...

(1826) prepared by his uncle,

the elder.

Family

In about 1804, he married Phœbe, the daughter of mariner and merchant Joseph Cotton. His wife died in December 1854. Of the nine children they had, four died in infancy, and three in succession between 1833 and 1839.

References

Notes

Attribution: * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowdler, Thomas 1782 births 1856 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English non-fiction writers English sermon writers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge