Thomas Mozley (180617 June 1893) was an English clergyman and writer associated with the

Oxford Movement 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 Un ...

Early life

Mozley was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, the son of a bookseller and publisher. His brother, James Bowling Mozley, would become known for his own theological works. From Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Gainsborough and

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 ...

he progressed to

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

in 1825, where he became the pupil, and subsequently the great friend, of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English Catholic theologian, academic, philosopher, historian, writer, and poet. He was previously an Anglican priest and after his conversion became a cardinal. He was an ...

. In 1831, he was ordained, after which he became curate of

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

, leaving a year later to take over the rectorship of Moreton Pinkney. He asked to leave four years later and in 1836 became rector of

Cholderton Cholderton, or more properly West Cholderton, is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the River Bourne, Wiltshire, Bourne Valley of Wiltshire, England. The village is about east of the town of Amesbury. It is on the A338 road ...

, Wiltshire. In September of that year, he married Newman's younger sister Harriet, creating a family connection to his mentor.

Tractarian

From the beginning, Mozley was a strong supporter of the Tractarian movement. After contributing for some time to the ''

British Critic The ''British Critic: A New Review'' was a quarterly publication, established in 1793 as a conservative and high-church review journal riding the tide of British reaction against the French Revolution. The headquarters was in London. The journa ...

'', its periodical, Mozley succeeded Newman as editor in July 1841. In 1843, he was on the point of joining the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Newman, however, strongly advised him to take two years to reflect, and Mozley decided to remain an

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 ...

. In 1844, he began to write leading articles for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', and continued to do so regularly for many years. Newman's own conversion to Catholicism in 1845 broke the connection between Mozley and Newman, who stopped their correspondence. In 1847, Mozley resigned from his country living and settled in London.

Later life

In 1868, he accepted the living of Plymtree in

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. Mozley published his ''Letters From Rome'', from 1869 to 1870, covering the convening of Vatican I. From 1876 to 1880, he was

rural dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of Ottery St Mary, Devon. He retired in 1880, and moved to

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, where he died.

Works

Mozley was the author of ''Reminiscences, Chiefly of Oriel, and the Oxford Movement'', published in 1882, which details a history of the Oxford Movement and Mozley's own connection to it. Critical reception of the work has been mixed. Other works were: * ''Henry VII, Prince Arthur, and Cardinal Morton, from a Group representing the Adoration of the Three Kings on the Chancel Screen of Plymtree Church'', 1878. * ''Reminiscences, chiefly of Towns, Villages, and Schools'', 2 vols., 1885. * ''The Word'', 1889. * ''The Son'', 1891. * ''Letters from Rome on the Occasion of the Œcumenical Council, 1869-1870'', 2 vols., 1891. * ''The Creed, or a Philosophy'', 1893, with a short autobiographical preface. Mozley also published a ''Letter to the Rev. Canon Bull'', 1882, and contributed to the ''British Critic'', and other periodicals, besides ''

''.

Notes

References

* * 1806 births 1893 deaths English Anglo-Catholics Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford People from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire 19th-century English Anglican priests People educated at Charterhouse School People educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School Anglo-Catholic clergy {{Anglican-stub