Thomas Seward (1708 – 4 March 1790) 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 ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

who was part of the

Lichfield Lichfield () is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated south-east of the county town of Stafford, north-east of Walsall, north-west of ...

intellectual circle that included

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, Erasmus Darwin and his own daughter Anna Seward, amongst others.

Life

Thomas Seward was the son of John Seward of Badsey,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. He married Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Hunter, headmaster of Lichfield grammar school, and was the father of Anna Seward the author.

Education and career

He was admitted a foundation scholar of Westminster school in 1723. He was elected by the school to scholarships at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 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 ...

in 1727; but after his rejection by both universities he became a pensioner of

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1730 and M.A. in 1734. Seward became travelling tutor to Lord Charles FitzRoy, third son of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, who died while on the tour in Italy in 1739. The Duke promised some preferment for Seward: he became rector of Eyam in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

, and Kingsley, Staffordshire. He also obtained the prebend of Bubbenhall in Lichfield Cathedral, though the date of his admission does not appear, and on 30 April 1755 he was collated to the prebend of Pipa Parva in the same church. He was installed in the prebend of Lyme and Halstock in

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...

on 5 June 1755. Seward resided at

from 1749, moving into the Bishop's Palace in 1754, and was acquainted with Samuel Johnson, whom he used to entertain on his visits to Lichfield.

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 ( N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of the English writer Samuel Johnson, '' Life of Samuel ...

described him as a great valetudinarian. Seward died at the Bishop's Palace, Lichfield, on 4 March 1790.

Work

His progressive ideas on

female education Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education (primary education, secondary education, tertiary education, and health education in particular) for girls and women. It is frequently called girls ...

, authoring "''The Female Right to Literature''" (1748), facilitated his daughter's career, although he was later to regret this. ''The Female Right to Literature'' and four other poems by Seward were printed in Robert Dodsley's ''Collection of Poems''. Seward also edited, with Thomas Sympson, the ''Works'' of

Beaumont and Fletcher Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather t ...

, and wrote the preface, 10 vols. London, 1750.

Selected publications

* , in , Volume 2, pp. 309–315 * ''The Conformity between Popery and Paganism'', London, 1746. * A sermon, preached at Lichfield in 1756, entitled ''The late dreadful Earthquakes no proof of God's particular Wrath against the Portuguese''.

Legacy

Anna Seward caused a monument to be erected to her parents in Lichfield Cathedral. The monument was executed by John Bacon, and the verses which form part of the epitaph were the composition of

Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. In 1779 he was portrayed as the Canon in the novel ''Columella'' by Richard Graves.

References

Bibliography

* *

Thompson Cooper Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837 – 5 March 1904) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to the Victorian e ...

, rev. Bancroft, P. (2004)
Seward, Thomas (1708–1790)
, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

'', Oxford University Press, accessed 5 February 2008 * *
Letter
from

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, and classics, classical scholar at Cambridge University, being a fellow first of Peterhouse then of Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College. He is widely ...

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (; 24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English Whig politician, writer, historian and antiquarian. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, southwest London ...

, 1748, regarding Seward and the Dodsley collection

External links

Thomas Seward
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seward, Thomas 1708 births 1790 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests English writers Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge