Charles James Blomfield

Charles James Blomfield (29 May, 1786 - 5 August, 1857) was an English divine, and a Church of England bishop for 32 years.

Early life

Blomfield was born on 29 May, 1786 at Bury St. Edmunds.

Blomfield was educated at the local grammar school and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he won the Browne medals for Latin and Greek odes, and the Craven scholarship. In 1808, he graduated as third wrangler and first medallist, and in the following year was elected to a fellowship at Trinity College.

Career

The first-fruits of his scholarship was an edition of the "Prometheus" of Aeschylus in 1810; this was followed by editions of the "Septem contra Thebas", "Persae", "Choephorae", and "Agamemnon", of Callimachus, and of the fragments of Sappho, Sophron and Alcaeus.

Blomfield, however, soon ceased to devote himself entirely to scholarship. He had been ordained in 1810, and held in quick succession the livings of Chesterford, Quarrington, Dunton, Great and Little Chesterford, and Tuddenham. In 1817 he was appointed private chaplain to William Howley, Bishop of London. In 1819 he was nominated to the rich living of St. Botolph's, Bishopsgate, and in 1822 he became archdeacon of Colchester. Two years later he was raised to the bishopric of Chester where he carried through many much-needed reforms.

In 1828, he was translated to the bishopric of London, which he held for twenty-eight years. During this period, his energy and zeal did much to extend the influence of the church. He was one of the best debaters in the House of Lords, took a leading position in the action for church reform which culminated in the ecclesiastical commission, and did much for the extension of the colonial episcopate; and his genial and kindly nature made him an invaluable mediator in the controversies arising out of the tractarian movement.

Later life

His health at last gave way, and in 1856 he was permitted to resign his bishopric, retaining Fulham Palace as his residence, with a pension of £6000 per annum.

He died on 5 August, 1857, and is buried in the churchyard of All Saints Church, Fulham, London.

A memorial to Blomfield, by G. Richmond, can be seen at Saint Paul's Cathedral along the south wall of the ambulatory.

Published works

His published works, exclusive of those above mentioned, consist of charges, sermons, lectures and pamphlets, and of a "Manual of Private and Family Prayers". He was a frequent contributor to the quarterly reviews, chiefly on classical subjects.

See "Memoirs of Charles James Blomfield, D. D., Bishop of London, with Selections from his Correspondence", edited by his son, Alfred Blomfield (1863); GE Biber, "Bishop Blomfield and his Times" (1857).

Personal life

He was the father of the architect Sir Arthur Blomfield.

ee also

* John Hudson (mathematician)

References

*1911