Author: Claughton, Thomas Legh
Biography:
CLAUGHTON, Thomas Legh (1808-92: ODNB)
The eldest son of Thomas Claughton, MP, and his wife Maria Rhoda Legh, he was born at Winwick, Lancashire, on 6 Nov. 1808 and baptised in St. Peter’s, Newton-Le-Willows, Lancashire, on 13 Dec. 1808. He was educated at Rugby School and Trinity College, Cambridge (matric 5 July 1826, BA 1831, Fellow 1832-42, MA 1833, DD 1867); while at Cambridge he won the Newdigate prize for his Voyages of Discovery and prizes for both Latin verse and a Latin essay. He was ordained in 1834, became public examiner at Cambridge in 1835, and was select preacher to the university. In 1841 he became vicar of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, where he proved to be both an effective preacher and energetic in reforming ecclesiastical and social aspects of a large parish. He married the Honourable Julia Susanna Ward (1818-1902), daughter of the 10th Baron Ward, at St. Michael and All Angels, Himley, Staffordshire, on 14 June 1842; they had nine children. From 1852 to 1857 Claughten was professor of poetry at Oxford. In 1867 he was appointed bishop of Rochester; he held that post until 1877 when he became the first bishop of the new diocese of St. Albans. Claughton continued residing at Danbury Palace, the episcopal palace of the bishop of Rochester, and he died there on 25 July 1892. He was buried in St. Albans cathedral. Claughton’s other publications include sermons; he also edited Questions on the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels (2 volumes, 1853-57). (ODNB 19 Dec. 2023; Alumni Oxonienses; CCEd 19 Dec. 2023; ancestry.co.uk 19 Dec. 2023)
Other Names:
- T. Legh Claughton