Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an English

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest and poet. He was a member of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Holy Trinity Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the Established Church, established (and do ...

, who fought for the

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: *Abolitionism, abolition of slavery *Capital punishment#Abolition of capital punishment, Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment *Abolitio ...

of the

slave trade Slave trade may refer to: * History of slavery - overview of slavery It may also refer to slave trades in specific countries, areas: * Al-Andalus slave trade * Atlantic slave trade ** Brazilian slave trade ** Bristol slave trade ** Danish sl ...

in England.

Life

Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derby, the son of John Gisborne of Yoxhall Lodge in Needwood Forest, Staffordshire and his wife Anne Bateman. He was educated at Harrow and entered St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

in 1776, where he established lifelong friendships with

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 1759 – 29 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist, and a leader of the movement to abolish the Atlantic slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780 ...

and Thomas Babington. At Cambridge, he became the first Chancellor's medallist in 1780. In 1783 he became curate of Barton-under-Needwood in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, and later that year inherited Yoxall Lodge, also in Staffordshire, which was 3 miles from the church. The next year he married Mary Babington (b. 1760), only sister of Thomas Babington. They had six sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Thomas Gisborne (1794–1852), became a member of parliament, and the fourth son, James, a clergyman, succeeded his father as

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly ...

of Barton in 1820. Gisborne was a central figure in the

, an abolitionist group which included William Wilberforce and Gisborne's brother-in-law Thomas Babington. Yoxall Lodge acted as a major focus of the group, and Wilberforce was a frequent visitor there. Gisborne was appointed

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

in 1823. He died at Yoxall Lodge on 24 March 1846 at the age of eighty-seven. Gisborne left money for an annual scholarship at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charter in 1837. It was the first recognised university to ...

, which is referred to as the Gisborne Scholarship.

Writing

left, Thomas and Mary Gisborne in a 1786 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. Gisborne's ''Principles of Moral Philosophy'' (1789) was a forceful

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

attack on

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian apologetics, Christian apologist, philosopher, and Utilitarianism, utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument ...

's ''Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy'' (1785), an influential work studied at both

and

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Universities, arguing

morality Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...

as a

categorical imperative The categorical imperative () is the central philosophical concept in the deontological Kantian ethics, moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 ''Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals'', it is a way of evaluating motivati ...

against Paley's

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...

standpoint. Gisborne also wrote ''Enquiry into the Duties of Men'' (1795) and ''Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex'' (1797) stressing subordination to the divinely imposed social hierarchy. His ''Walks in a Forest'' (1794) was a book of poems describing the scenery of Needwood Forest, which bordered his estate at Yoxall.

Scriptural geologist

scriptural geologist Scriptural geologists (or Mosaic geologists) were a heterogeneous group of writers in the early nineteenth century, who claimed "the primacy of Biblical literalism, literalistic biblical exegesis" and a short Young Earth creationism, Young Earth ti ...

, Gisborne wrote two books which criticised the trend of geology away from a basis in the Bible: ''Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity'' (1818) and ''Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology'' (1837).

Published works

*''Principles of Moral Philosophy'' (1789) *''Remarks Respecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade'' (1792) *''Walks in a Forest'' (1794) *''An Enquiry into the Duties of Men in the Higher and Middle Classes of Society" in Great Britain'' (1794) *''An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex'' (1797) *''Poems Sacred and Moral'' (1798) *''A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use'', with Jonathan Stubbs (1805) *''Sermons Volume 1'' (1809)"Sermons Vol. 1
at

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*''A Familiar Survey of the Christian Religion and of History'' (1810) *''Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity'' (1818) *''Essays on Recollection of Friends in a Future State'' (1822) *''Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology'' (1837)

Hymns

*''A Soldier's Course from Battles Won'' *''Hark! 'Tis the Bell with Solemn Toll'' *''O Father, Glorify Thy Name'' *''Saviour, When Night Involves the Skies'' *''Thy Humblest Works with Full Accord'' *''When Groves by Moonlight Silence Keep''

Footnotes

References

* *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gisborne, Thomas 1758 births 1846 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 18th-century English philosophers Evangelical Anglican clergy Clapham Sect Clergy from Derby Writers from Derby Paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby Anglican poets People from Yoxall