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Author: Barham, Richard Harris

Biography:

BARHAM, Richard Harris (1788-1845: ODNB)

Born at Canterbury on 6 Dec. 1788 and baptised in St. Mary Magdalene church, he was the only son of Richard Harris Barham (d 1795) of Tappington Everard, Kent. His mother was Elizabeth Fox, housekeeper; she may have been the Elizabeth Fox who died in Canterbury in 1804. His parents were not married but his father ensured that he was well-educated and made him his heir. He attended St. Paul’s School in London (1800-07) and Brasenose College, Oxford (BA 1811, MA 1817). His right arm was severely damaged in an accident when he was travelling to school in the Dover Mail and he suffered a permanent disability. He was ordained in 1813 and lived in Kent where he was successively curate at Ashford (1813) and Westwell (1814-17) and rector at Snargate (1817-24). On 30 Sept. 1814 in Ashford he married Caroline Smart (d 1851); they had four sons and three daughters. In 1821 he was made a minor canon of St. Paul’s Cathedral and the family moved to London where they lived in Amen Corner and, in 1824, he became rector of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Gregory by Paul. His clerical responsibilities left him time to write: he edited the London Chronicle (1823), contributed to various periodicals, and was closely associated with Bentley’s Miscellany. He also served as Richard Bentley’s advisor and negotiated with various authors. An unsuccessful first novel (Baldwin in 1820) was followed by the wildly popular Ingoldsby Legends, first serialised in the Miscellany in 1837. Published as by Thomas Ingoldsby, the Legends included verse and prose and extended to three series. They were reprinted numerous times. A second novel, My Cousin Nicholas, was issued in 1841. An amiable and genial man, Barham was a founding member of the Garrick Club in 1832 and joined the British Archaeological Association in 1843. In 1842 he was made a divinity lecturer at St. Paul’s and rector of the church of St. Augustine with St. Faith’s. He died of an ulcerated larynx on 17 June 1845 and was buried on 21 June in the vault of his former church with the four of his children who had predeceased him. A memoir and collection of his letters was edited by his son, the Rev. Richard Harris Dalton Barham (1870). (ODNB 16 Jan. 2023; ancestry.co.uk 16 Jan. 2023; R. H. D. Barham, ed. The Life and Letters of Richard Harris Barham [1870])

 

Other Names:

  • R. H. Barham
 

Books written (2):