Author: Keble, John
Biography:
KEBLE, John (1792-1866: ODNB)
He was born in Fairford, Gloucestershire, the son and grandson of Church of England clergymen; his parents were Sarah (Maule) and John Keble. Along with his brothers and sisters, he was educated at home--primarily by their father, who was vicar of a nearby village. He graduated with a double first from Oxford in 1811 and in 1812 accepted a fellowship at Oriel College, where he became a tutor. Following his ordination in 1816, he served various rural parishes on a temporary basis until 1823, when he was made curate at Southrop. He was able to maintain his Oxford connections, including a growing alliance with John Henry Newman (q.v.) that ended abruptly when Newman converted to Roman Catholicism. The Christian Year (1827) is said to have been the widest-selling book of verse in the nineteenth century, with sixteen editions by 1837 and 158 by 1873 when the copyright expired. In 1831, Keble was elected Professor of Poetry at Oxford, a position he held for ten years; his volume of Latin lectures on poetry (1844) is dedicated to Wordsworth. In 1835, Keble married Charlotte Clarke; in 1836 he accepted the living of Hursley in Hampshire, where they spent the rest of their lives. A conscientious vicar in his parish, he was also active in the Tractarian Movement and in the editing of high-church classics in theology. Eleven volumes of sermons were published posthumously (1875-80). Keble College, Oxford, was founded in his memory. (ODNB 5 July 2019) HJ