Thomas Legh Claughton

Thomas Legh Claughton (6 November1808 – 25 July1892) was a British academic, poet and clergyman. He was professor of poetry at Oxford University from 1852 to 1857; Bishop of Rochester; and the first Bishop of St Albans.Sutton, C. W. "Claughton, Thomas Legh (1808–1892)." Rev. H. C. G. Matthew. "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography". Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/5550 Accessed 10 Feb 2007] .]

Biography

Claughton was born on 6 November 1808 at at Haydock Lodge in Winwick, Warrington, then in Lancashire. He was the son of Lancashire MP Thomas Claughton and his wife, Maria.cite web| url = http://www.tejones.net/religion/Bishops/Claughton.html| title = Thomas Legh Claughton| accessdate = 2007-02-10| work = 19th-Century Bishops of the Church of England] He was educated at Rugby School and was admitted in 1826 to Trinity College, Oxford, where he took a first in Literae Humaniores in 1831.

Remaining at Oxford, he held the post of select preacher to the University four times between 1841 and 1868 and from 1852 to 1857 he held the office of Professor of Poetry.

Ordained in 1834, Claughton was assigned no cure until 1841, when he was appointed vicar of Kidderminster. This post he held for 26 years and was widely acclaimed for his work. In April 1867, Claughton was nominated Bishop of Rochester on the recommendation of Lord Derby, for whose installation as Chancellor of Oxford Claughton had written an ode.

In 1877, the Diocese of St Albans was created. Essentially land north of the Thames in the counties of Essex and Hertfordshire, previously ministered under Claughton's see, the Diocese of Rochester, formed the new diocese. Possibly as he already resided in the newly created Diocese, Claughton chose to become the first Bishop of St Albans, a post which he held until 1890.

From his enthronement as 98th Bishop of Rochester to his resignation from the bishopric of St Albans in 1890, Claughton resided at Danbury Palace (near Chelmsford), where he died on 25 July 1892. It was a distinguished occupancy as one of his daughters married the Duke of Argyll at a ceremony at the Palace.

He is buried in St Albans Cathedral.

succession box
before=Joseph Cotton Wigram
title=Bishop of Rochester
years=1867 – 1877
after=Anthony Wilson Thorold

succession box
before=new creation
title=Bishop of St Albans
years=1877 – 1890
after=John Wogan Festing

Selected works

* "Voyages of Discovery to the Polar Regions" (1829), poem – winner of the Newdigate prize for 1829
* "Questions on the Collects, Epistles, and Gospels" (1853–57), 2 vols.

References

Persondata
NAME=Claughton, Thomas Legh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Anglican bishop
DATE OF BIRTH=November 6, 1808
PLACE OF BIRTH=Haydock Lodge, Winwick, Lancashire, England
DATE OF DEATH=July 25, 1892
PLACE OF DEATH=Danbury Palace, nr. Chelmsford, England