Thomas Robinson (1790 – 17 May 1873) was an English churchman and academic who became the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

in 1826,

Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic The Lord Almoner's Professorships of Arabic were two professorships, one at the University of Oxford and one at the University of Cambridge. They were both founded before 1724, but records of the holders of the chairs only date from that year. The ...

at Cambridge in 1837, and

Master of the Temple The Temple Church is a Royal peculiar church in the City of London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. It was consecrated on 10 February 1185 by Patriarch Heraclius of Je ...

in 1845.

Life

Robinson was the youngest son of

Thomas Robinson (1749–1813) Thomas Robinson (1749–1813) was an English cleric, known for his volumes of ''Scripture Characters''. Life He was born at Wakefield, Yorkshire, on 10 September 1749, the fourth son of James Robinson, a hosier there. He was sent at an early age ...

. He was educated at

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

and

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

, where he matriculated as a scholar in 1809. In 1810 he gained the first Bell scholarship, and he graduated B.A. in 1813. He proceeded M.A. in 1816, was admitted

ad eundem Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

at Oxford in 1839, and graduated D.D. in 1844. Robinson was ordained deacon in 1815 and priest in 1816, then going out as a missionary to India. He was appointed chaplain on the Bombay establishment, and was stationed first at

Seroor Shirur is an administrative subdivision of the Pune district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located on the eastern boundary of the district, on the banks of the Ghod River. The town is also called Ghodnadi to distinguish it from othe ...

and then at

Poonah Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He attracted the notice of

Thomas Fanshaw Middleton Thomas Fanshawe Middleton (28 January 1769 – 8 July 1822) was a noted Anglican bishop. Life Middleton was born in Kedleston in Derbyshire, England, the son of Thomas Middleton, Rector of Kedleston and educated at Christs Hospital. He then w ...

, and in 1825 he was appointed chaplain to Middleton's successor,

Reginald Heber Reginald Heber (21 April 1783 – 3 April 1826) was an English Anglican bishop, man of letters and hymn-writer. After 16 years as a country parson, he served as Bishop of Calcutta until his death at the age of 42. The son of a rich lando ...

. He was present at

Trichinopoly Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...

on 2 April 1826, when Heber was drowned, and preached and published a funeral sermon. Before the end of 1826 he was made Archdeacon of Madras. In 1837 Robinson was appointed Lord Almoner's Professor of Arabic at the University of Cambridge. In 1845 he was elected Master of the Temple, and in 1847 was appointed Prebendary of Mora with a stall in

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

. In 1853 was presented to the rectory of

Therfield Therfield is both a small village of approximately 4,761 acres (19 km²) and a civil parish which sits upon the chalk range, three miles southwest of Royston, and six miles (10 km) northeast of Baldock and within the English county of ...

, Hertfordshire. In the following year he was made canon of

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an English church of Norman architecture in Rochester, Kent. The church is the cathedral of the Diocese of Rochester in the Church of England and the s ...

, resigning his professorship at Cambridge. He gave up his rectory in 1860, and the mastership of the Temple in 1869, being succeeded by

Charles John Vaughan Charles John Vaughan (16 August 1816 – 15 October 1897) was an English scholar and Anglican churchman. Life He was born in Leicester, the second son of the Revd Edward Thomas Vaughan, vicar of St Martin's, Leicester. He was educated at Ru ...

. Robinson died at the Precincts, Rochester, on 13 May 1873.

Works

Early in his time in India, Robinson was engaged in translating the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

into Persian. The first part, ''The History of Joseph from the Pentateuch'', appeared in 1825, and two others, ''Isaiah to Malachi'' and ''Chronicles to Canticles'', in 1837 and 1838. Other works were: *''Discourses on the Evidences of Christianity'', Calcutta, 1819, dedicated to Thomas Fanshaw Middleton. *''The Last Days of Bishop Heber'', Madras, 1829. *''On the Study of Oriental Literature'', 1838, inaugural lecture delivered on 22 May 1838. *''The Character of St. Paul the Model of the Christian Ministry'', Cambridge, 1840. *''The Twin Fallacies of Rome, Supremacy and Infallibility'', London, 1851.

Family

Robinson was first married in 1816, to Esther Eleanor, by Charles Simeon. She died at Therfield on 3 July 1855. He was survived by his wife Mary, and by two sons who were clerics, Charles Edward Ricketts (born in Madras 1829, died 1881), and Thomas (died 1895) who was a Cambridge Apostle and Head Master of Potsdam School, Jamaica.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Thomas (orientalist) 1790 births 1873 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests English Anglican missionaries English translators Archdeacons of Madras Masters of the Temple Anglican missionaries in India 19th-century British translators Missionary linguists Lord Almoner's Professors of Arabic (Cambridge)