Author: Bedford, Thomas
Biography:
BEDFORD, Thomas (1734-1803: findmypast.co.uk)
A curious satire on the Bedford parliamentary elections of 1790, Joe’s Oddities was published anonymously “for the author’s benefit” in Bedford in 1791. The Preface states that, if the book meets with approval, it will be followed by a longer work. The attribution to the Rev. Thomas Bedford is given in catalogues following HL where the author is identified as the vicar of St. Paul’s, Bedford. In fact, Thomas Bedford was the rector of the parish church in Wike (or Week) St. Mary, Cornwall; likely HL’s error came from his having published in Bedford in 1778 A Sermon Preached at the Parish Church of St. Paul, in the Town of Bedford. This Thomas Bedford is not listed in CCEd (there are others of the same name) but he was the son of the Rev. Francis Bedford (d 1755) of Cuby, Cornwall, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of the Rev. John Hughes of Creed, Cornwall. He was baptised at Creed on 19 Feb. 1734 and matriculated at Exeter College, Oxford, on 23 Jan. 1752 (BA 1756). He was rector of Pilleigh, Cornwall, 1758-1803; and of Week St. Mary 1772-81. He seems not to have married. He died on 17 Apr. 1803. His other publications are sermons and, although these reveal an abiding critical interest in politics, there is nothing in them to indicate he would—or could— have written Joe’s Oddities. Bibliotheca Cornubiensis states that the attribution of the book to Bedford originated with James Wyatt of Bedford (1816-78). On present knowledge, however, Bedford’s authorship remains uncertain. (HL; Bibliotheca Cornubiensis; ancestry.co.uk 29 May 2023; findmypast.co.uk 29 May 2023; Alumni Oxonienses) SR