- Thomas Burgess
:"Thomas Burgess is also the name of the founder of Bala, Ontario, Canada"
Thomas Burgess (1756 –
February 19 ,1837 ) was an Englishauthor ,philosopher ,Bishop of Saint David's andBishop of Salisbury .Life
He was born at
Odiham inHampshire and educated atRobert May's School , Odiham,Winchester College , and atCorpus Christi College, Oxford . Before graduating, he edited a reprint ofJohn Burton 's "Pentalogia". In 1781 he brought out an annotated edition ofRichard Dawes 's "Miscellaneci Critica" (reprinted, Leipzig, 1800). In 1783 he became a fellow of his college, and in 1785 was appointed chaplain toShute Barrington , bishop of Salisbury, through whose influence he obtained aprebendal stall , which he held till 1803.In 1788 he published his "Considerations on the Abolition of Slavery", in which he advocated the principle of gradual emancipation. In 1791 he accompanied Barrington to Durham, where he did evangelistic work among the poorer classes. In 1803 he was appointed to the vacant bishopric of
St David's , which he held for twenty years with great success. He founded the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in the diocese, and also St David's College (now theUniversity of Wales, Lampeter ), which he liberally endowed, and to which his large library was donated after his death.In 1820 he was appointed first president of the recently founded
Royal Society of Literature ; and three years later he was promoted to the see of Salisbury, over which he presided for twelve years, prosecuting his benevolent designs with unwearied industry. As at St David's, so at Salisbury, he founded a Church Union Society for the assistance of infirm and distressed clergymen. He strenuously opposed bothUnitarianism andCatholic emancipation.Thomas Burgess was a founding member of the
Odiham Agricultural Society and was instrumental in establishing the Royal Veterinary Society.Works
A list of his works, which are very numerous, will be found in his biography by JS Harford (2nd ed, 1841). In addition to those already referred to may be mentioned his "Essay on the Study of Antiquities", "The First Principles of Christian Knowledge"; "Reflections on the Controversial Writings of Dr Priestley", "Emendationes in Suidam et Hesychium et alios Lexicographos Graecos"; "The Bible, and nothing but the Bible, the Religion of the Church of England".
References
*
John Scandrett Harford , "The life of Thomas Burgess, D.D., F.R.S., F.A.S. &c. &c. &c. late Lord Bishop of Salisbury", Orme, Brown, Green and Longmans, London.
*D T W Price, "Yr Esgob Burgess a Choleg Llanbedr: Bishop Burgess and Lampeter College", University of Wales Press, Cardiff (ISBN 0-7083-0965-8)
*1911Persondata
NAME= Burgess, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Englishauthor ,philosopher ,Bishop of Saint David's andBishop of Salisbury
DATE OF BIRTH=1756
PLACE OF BIRTH=Odiham ,Hampshire ,England ,The Kingdom of Great Britain
DATE OF DEATH=February 19 ,1837
PLACE OF DEATH=
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