George North (1707–1772) was an English cleric and numismatist.

Life

The son of George North, citizen and pewterer, who resided in or near

Aldersgate Street Aldersgate is a Ward of the City of London, named after one of the northern gates in the London Wall which once enclosed the City. The Ward of Aldersgate is traditionally divided into Aldersgate Within and Aldersgate Without, the suffix denot ...

in London, he was educated at St Paul's School. In 1725 he entered

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, where he graduated B.A. 1728, M.A. 1744. North was ordained deacon in 1729, and went to officiate as curate at

Codicote Codicote is a large village, and civil parish about south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It has timber-framed and chequered brick houses, of special interest being the 18th-century Pond House and the half-timbered Taverners Place (forme ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, near

Welwyn Welwyn is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. The parish also includes the villages of Digswell and Oaklands, Hertfordshire, Oaklands. It is sometimes referred to as Old Welwyn or Welwyn Village, ...

, a village of which he was also curate. In 1743 he was presented to the vicarage of Codicote, and held this small living until his death. In 1744 he was appointed chaplain to

Lord Cathcart Earl Cathcart is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1814 for the soldier and diplomat William Cathcart, 1st Viscount Cathcart. The Cathcart family descends from Sir Alan Cathcart, who sometime be ...

. North collected English coins, and corresponded on English numismatics and antiquities with

Andrew Ducarel Andrew Coltée Ducarel (9 June 1713 – 29 May 1785), was an English antiquary, librarian, and archivist. He was also a lawyer practising civil law (a "civilian"), and a member of the College of Civilians. Early life and education Ducarel was ...

. In 1742 he was elected a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

; he was also a member of the

Spalding Society The Spalding Gentlemen's Society is a learned society based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, concerned with cultural, scientific and antiquarian subjects. It is Britain's oldest such provincial body, founded in 1710 by Maurice Johnson (168 ...

. In 1750 he made a tour in the west of England, visiting Dorchester, Wilton, and Stonehenge, but from this time suffered from illness. Around 1751 North, with

George Vertue George Vertue (1684 – 24 July 1756) was an English engraver and antiquary, whose notebooks on British art of the first half of the 18th century are a valuable source for the period. Life Vertue was born in 1684 in St Martin-in-the-Fields, ...

and Ducarel, was one of the leaders of resistance in the Society of Antiquaries to the perceived ambitions of

Martin Folkes Martin Folkes PRS FRS (29 October 1690 – 28 June 1754), was an English antiquary, numismatist, mathematician, and astronomer. Life Folkes was born in Westminster on 29 October 1690, the eldest son of Martin Folkes, councillor at Law.Albe ...

. The outcome was that the Society was incorporated in its own right, avoiding any move to amalgamate it into the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. North also worked to write the Society's history, a related attempt to shore up its prestige. He was baffled in trying to connect the Society of Antiquaries of the 18th century with that of the early 17th century. There were no sources to prove continuity with the group meeting in the time of James I, a lack he made known. During a period of bad health around 1765, a number of North's papers were burnt as he asked. He died on 17 June 1772, aged 65, at his parsonage-house at Codicote, and was buried at the east end of Codicote churchyard. He was unmarried. He left his library and coins to

Anthony Askew Anthony Askew (1722–1774) was an English physician and is best known for having been a book collector Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maint ...

and

Michael Lort Michael Lort (1725–1790) was a Welsh clergyman, academic and antiquary. Life The descendant of a Pembrokeshire family living at Prickeston, he was eldest son of Roger Lort, major of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who married Anne, only child of Edw ...

Works

North attracted the attention of

Francis Wise Francis Wise (3 June 1695 – 5 October 1767) was an academic, archivist, librarian and antiquarian at the University of Oxford. Life Francis Wise was born in Oxford on 3 June 1695. His father, Francis Wise, was a mercer. After being educated at ...

and other antiquaries by ''An Answer to a Scandalous Libel intituled The Impertinence and Imposture of modern Antiquaries displayed'', published anonymously in 1741, a reply to

William Asplin William Asplin (1686/7–1758) was a British writer, theologian, and churchman. Life Asplin was educated at Trinity College, Oxford, and, on taking his B.A. degree in 1707, removed to St. Alban's Hall, and became vice-principal. He was ordained i ...

. In 1752 he published ''Remarks on some Conjectures'' (London), in answer to a paper by

Charles Clarke Charles Rodway Clarke (born 21 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich South from 1997 until 2010, and served as Home Secretary from December 2004 until May 2006. Early life Th ...

on a coin found at

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

. In this pamphlet North discussed the standard and purity of early English coins. He corresponded with the numismatist Patrick Kennedy on the coins of

Carausius Marcus Aurelius Mausaeus Carausius (died 293) was a military commander of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century. He was a Menapian from Belgic Gaul, who usurped power in 286, during the Carausian Revolt, declaring himself emperor in Britain and no ...

and

Allectus Allectus (died 296) was a Britannic Empire, Roman-Britannic Roman usurper, usurper-Roman emperors, emperor in Roman Britain, Britain and northern Gaul from 293 to 296. History Allectus was treasurer to Carausius, a Menapii, Menapian officer in the ...

. Among North's books was his manuscript account of Saxon and English coins, with drawings by Edward Hodsol. It later came into the possession of

Rogers Ruding Rogers Ruding (1751–1820) was an English cleric and academic, known as a numismatist and the author of the ''Annals of the Coinage''. He was the Vicar of Malden, Surrey from 1793 until his death in 1820. Prior to his marriage in May 1793, he was ...

, with two plates engraved by North to accompany a dissertation (not completed) on the coins of Henry III. North also compiled ''A Table of English Silver Coins from the Conquest to the Commonwealth, with Remarks'': a transcript by Andrew Gifford was in 1780 in the collection of Mark Cephas Tutet. His notes on Joseph Ames's ''Typographical Antiquities'' were made use of by William Herbert. North drew up sale catalogues for the coin collections of the

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...

(1742) and of

Richard Mead Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

(1755); he also catalogued, in 1744,

James West James or Jim West may refer to: People * James West (Australian journalist) (born 1982), Australian journalist and author * James West (antiquary) (1703–1772), English politician and antiquary; president of the Royal Society * James E. West (po ...

's series of Saxon coins and Ducarel's English coins. A paper on Arabic numerals in England, written by North in 1748, was published by

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...

in '' Archæologia'' (x. 360).

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:North, George 1707 births 1772 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests English antiquarians English numismatists Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge People from Codicote