Author: Roberts, John
Biography:
ROBERTS, John (1763-1822: ancestry.co.uk)
He was baptised on 29 July 1763 at Eton, the second son of William Hayward Roberts (q.v.), provost of Eton, and his first wife Jane Pitt, who had married in 1761. Like his father he was educated at Eton and King’s College Cambridge (matric. 1782, BA 1786, Member’s Prize 1787, Seatonian Prize 1789, MA 1789, DD 1809, Fellow 1784-90). He was an assistant master at Eton (1791-1800). He also held various church livings as rector of Creeting St. Olave and All Saints, Suffolk (1792-1822), vicar of Sonning, Berkshire (1803-22) and Burnham and Boveney, Buckinghamshire (1803-22). He married first Mary Mortlock, on 29 July 1790 at St. Mary, Woodbridge, Suffolk. She was the sister of the Cambridge banker, John Mortlock, and brought a substantial marriage settlement. She died due to childbirth complications on 16 Dec. 1791, at Eton. He then married Anne Saunders on 19 Apr. 1796 at St. Mary De Crypt, Gloucester. They went on to have at least two sons who were also educated at Eton and King’s, and two daughters. She died in Oct. 1816. He then married Harriet Sturges on 20 Jan. 1818 at Sonning. She was the daughter of Rev. Charles Sturges, Vicar of Reading, who had been a slightly older contemporary at Eton and King’s. There was no issue. He died on 23 Feb. 1822 at the vicarage, Sonning, and was buried there. In addition to the work listed here, he published a sermon delivered at St. Mary’s, Ipswich, in 1798: Ridicule the most successful Adversary of Truth [1798], a slightly unusual reworking of an old Shaftesburian theme. (ancestry.co.uk 7 July 2023; findmypast 7 July 2023; CCEd 7 July 2023; Copsey, 1: 410; ODNB [William Hayward Roberts 7 July 2023; R. A. Austen-Leigh, Eton College Register, 1753-1790 [1921], 450; Ipswich Journal 31 July 1790, 24 Dec. 1791, 23 Apr. 1796; Bath Chronicle 17 Oct. 1816; London Packet 23 Jan. 1818; Cambridge Chronicle 1 Mar. 1822) AA