Author: Fellowes, Robert
Biography:
FELLOWES, Robert (1770-1847: ODNB)
He was born at Gay Bowers, Danbury, Essex, the son of Elizabeth (Harris) and William Fellowes. His parents died when he was a child but the family was well-to-do and he was given a good education. He entered Oriel College, Oxford, in 1788, graduated from St. Mary Hall, Oxford (BA 1796, MA 1801), and took orders but after a brief spell in 1797 as a stipendiary curate at Harbury in Warwickshire did not pursue a career in the Church. His first book, A Picture of Christian Philosophy (1799), set the tone for much of his work--philosophical, liberal, not narrowly religious. Similar titles are The Anti-Calvinist (1800), Religion without Cant (1801), and The Religion of the Universe (1836). From 1804 to 1811 he edited the Critical Review; Robert Southey (q.v.) described him as "a very interesting man" (Letters). In 1806 he married an author and translator whose work had been praised in the Review, the widow Elizabeth Annabella (Mackenzie) de Brusasque (1779-1814). Long after her death, in 1823 he married Sophia Parmenter, of Essex (d 1836). In 1824 a legacy of almost £200,000 from the lawyer Francis Maseres (sometime Attorney-General of Quebec) enabled him to promote various philanthropical causes, ranging from advanced education (gifts to the universities of London and Edinburgh) through public recreation (the opening of Regent's Park) to the emancipation of the Jews. He died at his London home, 31 Dorset Sq., and was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, leaving two sons and two daughters. (ODNB 16 Jul. 2021; findmypast.com 16 Jul. 2021; CCEd 16 Jul. 2021; Robert Southey to William Taylor 6 Nov. 1808 in romantic-circles.org/editions/southey_letters 16 Jul. 2021; CR 8 [1806] 493; "Maseres, Francis," DCB 16 Jul. 2021) HJ