Thomas Pocock (1672–1745) was an English diarist, occupied as a member of the Anglican clergy. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in 1727.Royal Society Database: ''Pocock; Thomas (1672 - 1745)''
/ref>

Life

Pocock was born the son of Thomas Pocock and his wife, Anne, and grandson of the Rev. Dr. Laurence Pocock, Rector of Brightwalton in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

, who, in turn, was probably a second cousin to Edward Pocock, the orientalist and biblical scholar. He was educated at Abingdon, and entered

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located on Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England and VI of Scotland, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1694. He was M.A. of

St Mary Hall, Oxford St Mary Hall was a medieval academic halls of the University of Oxford, academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College, Oxford, Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it ...

in 1698. He was chaplain to

George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington Admiral of the Fleet George Byng, 1st Viscount Torrington, (27 January 1663 – 17 January 1733) was a Royal Navy officer and politician who represented Plymouth in the English and British House of Commons from 1705 to 1721. While still a lieu ...

, his brother-in-law, on HMS ''Ranelagh'', during the

Battle of Málaga (1704) The battle of Málaga, also known as the battle of Vélez-Málaga, was a major fleet action which took place during the War of the Spanish Succession between an Anglo- Dutch fleet and a Franco- Spanish naval force on 24 August 1704. Both si ...

, having previously served from May 1699 in HMS ''Orford''. His journal relates mainly to this naval campaign; he served as naval chaplain again, in 1711, in HMS ''Union''. Subsequently Pocock was rector of

Danbury Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

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 ...

, from 1705. He became rector of Latchingdon, in the same county, in 1712, and also chaplain to the

Royal Hospital, Greenwich Greenwich Hospital was a permanent home for retired sailors of the Royal Navy, which operated from 1692 to 1869. Its buildings, initially Greenwich Palace, in Greenwich, London, were later used by the Royal Naval College, Greenwich and the Uni ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(now

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

), from 1716.

Works

*''The Relief of Captives'' (1720), sermon *An

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

translation Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...

of Menashe Ben Israel's De Termina Vitae "Of the Term of Life, whether it is fixed or alterable" (1709). *Extracts from Pocock's journal were edited in 1889 by

John Knox Laughton Sir John Knox Laughton (23 April 1830 – 14 September 1915) was a British naval historian and arguably the first to delineate the importance of the subject of Naval history as an independent field of study. Beginning his working life as a math ...

Family

Pocock married Joyce, the daughter of James Master, who was a brother of

Streynsham Master Sir Streynsham Master (28 October 1640 – 28 April 1724) was an English colonial administrator who was one of the 17th-century pioneers of the English East India Company. He served as the Agent of Madras from 27 January 1678 to 3 July 1681, ...

, the English East India Company pioneer. Pocock's master, Lord Torrington, married Joyce's sister, Margaret.historyofparliamentonline.org, ''Pocock, George (1706-92), of Twickenham, Mdx.''
/ref> Pocock had nine children, including Admiral Sir

George Pocock Admiral Sir George Pocock, KB (6 March 1706 – 3 April 1792) was a Royal Navy officer who served in the Seven Years' War. Family Pocock was born in Thames Ditton in Surrey, the son of Thomas Pocock, a chaplain in the Royal Navy. His grea ...

K.B., Lieut. Richard Pocock R.N., Sarah the wife of Capt. Philip Vincent R.N. and Beatrice the wife of the Rev. David Campbell, Chaplain to Greenwich Hospital.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pocock, Thomas 1672 births 1745 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English diarists 18th-century English translators Fellows of the Royal Society Clergy from Essex People from West Berkshire District People educated at Abingdon School Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford English chaplains British military personnel of the War of the Spanish Succession Latin–English translators