Thomas Postlethwaite (1731 – 4 May 1798) was an English clergyman and Cambridge fellow, Master of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

from 1789 to 1798.

Biography

Thomas Postlethwaite was the son of Richard Postlethwaite of Crooklands, near

Milnthorpe Milnthorpe is a small market town on the southern border of Cumbria, 7 miles south of Kendal, civil parish and electoral ward are in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England. Historically in the county of Westmorland and on the A6, t ...

, Westmorland. He attended

St Bees School , motto_translation = Enter so that you may make progress , established = (reformed 2015–2018) , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

before entering Trinity College, Cambridge as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined j ...

in 1749. Graduating BA in 1753, he became a fellow of Trinity in 1755. He was Barnaby lecturer in mathematics in 1758. Ordained in 1756, he was from 1774 until his death Rector of

Hamerton Hamerton is a village in and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hamerton and Steeple Gidding, in Cambridgeshire, England. Hamerton lies approximately north-west of Huntingdon. Hamerton is situated within Huntingdonshire which is a non-m ...

. He was appointed Master of Trinity in 1789, and in 1791 served as university Vice-Chancellor. He died at Bath on 4 May 1798 and is buried in

Bath Abbey The Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is a parish church of the Church of England and former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England. Founded in the 7th century, it was reorganised in the 10th ...

church. He is mainly remembered for depriving the Cambridge classicist

Richard Porson Richard Porson (25 December 1759 – 25 September 1808) was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson's Law. The Greek typeface '' Porson'' was based on his handwriting. Early life Richard Porson was born at East Ruston, n ...

of his income, apparently in an attempt to force him to take Holy Orders.E.H.Barker, Literary Reminiscences, vol 2, 1852
p. 9.
/ref>

References

External links

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The Master of Trinity
at

1731 births 1798 deaths People educated at St Bees School 18th-century English mathematicians Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge People from Bath, Somerset People from Milnthorpe Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge People from Hamerton {{England-academic-administrator-stub