Edward Tagart (8 October 1804 – 12 October 1858) was an English Unitarian divine.

Biography

Tagart was born at

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and educated there and at Bath Grammar School (King Edward's School, Bath). In 1820 he entered the dissenting theological academy Manchester College, which was then at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

, and which eventually became

Harris Manchester College, Oxford Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in 1825 as the minister of the

Octagon Chapel, Norwich The Octagon Chapel is a Unitarian Chapel located in Colegate in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The congregation is a member of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. History The chapel is a grade II* listed building. Comple ...

. In 1828 he moved to the York Street chapel (now Browning Hall) in

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

, south London. In 1833 the congregation moved to a new chapel in Little Portland Street, off Regent Street. Tagart worked there for a quarter of a century. In 1844 the congregation gave him a set of

plate Plate may refer to: Cooking * Plate (dishware), a broad, mainly flat vessel commonly used to serve food * Plates, tableware, dishes or dishware used for setting a table, serving food and dining * Plate, the content of such a plate (for example: ...

with an inscription by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

, who at that time attended his services. Tagart was foreign secretary, then general secretary 1842–58, of the

British and Foreign Unitarian Association The British and Foreign Unitarian Association was the major Unitarian body in Britain from 1825. The BFUA was founded as an amalgamation of three older societies: the Unitarian Book Society for literature (1791), The Unitarian Fund for mission wo ...

. He was a fellow of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, the Geological Society and the Society of Antiquaries. He was a trustee of Dr Williams's foundations 1832–58. In August 1858 Tagart went on an official visit to the Unitarians of Transylvania. On his way home he was taken ill in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and died there.

Publications

*Reply to Address i
''The Service at the Settlement of the Rev. Edward Tagart, as Minister of the Octagon Chapel, Norwich, August 10, 1825''
Arthur Taylor, London, 1825
''A Memoir of the late Captain Peter Heywood, R. N.''
Effingham Wilson, London, 1832
''Remarks on mathematical or demonstrative reasoning''
John Green, London, 1837
''Sketches of the lives and characters of the leading Reformers of the Sixteenth Century''
John Green, London, 1843
''Remarks on Bentham, His Obligations to Priestley, and His Early Studies''
Charles Green, London, 1844
''Locke's writings and philosophy historically considered, and vindicated from the charge of contributing to the scepticism of Hume''
Longman, London, 1855 (of this Hallam wrote, 'I think it will have the effect of restoring Locke to the place he ought to take in the estimation of his country')

Family

Tagart married in 1828, Helen Bourn (1797–1871), daughter of Joseph Bourn, a grandson of

Samuel Bourn the younger Samuel Bourn the Younger (1689 –22 March 1754) was an English dissenting minister. He was an English presbyterian preaching on protestant values learned from the New Testament. Through his published sermons, he entered the theological de ...

. She was the widow of Thomas Martineau, brother of

Harriet Martineau Harriet Martineau (; 12 June 1802 – 27 June 1876) was an English social theorist often seen as the first female sociologist, focusing on race relations within much of her published material.Michael R. Hill (2002''Harriet Martineau: Theoretic ...

, and survived him with an only son and three daughters. She is often known as Helen Martineau.

References

Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Tagart, Edward 1804 births 1858 deaths People educated at King Edward's School, Bath Alumni of Harris Manchester College, Oxford English Unitarian ministers Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Geological Society of London Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London