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Renn Dickson Hampden (29 March 1793 – 23 April 1868) was an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
Anglican clergyman. His liberal tendencies led to conflict with traditionalist clergy in general and the supporters of
Tractarianism The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of O ...
during the years he taught in Oxford (1829–1846) which coincided with a period of rapid social change and heightened political tensions. His support for the campaign for the admission of non-Anglicans to Oxford and Cambridge Universities was unpopular at the time (1834) and led to serious protests when he was nominated to the Regius Professorship of Divinity two years later. His election as
Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...
became a ''cause celebre'' in Victorian religious controversies because it raised questions about the royal prerogative in the appointment of bishops and the role of the prime minister. He administered the diocese with tolerance and charity without being involved in any further controversy for nearly twenty years.


Early life, education and parish ministries

He was born in
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...
, where his father was colonel of militia, on
Good Friday Good Friday is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum. It is also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday (also Hol ...
in 1793, and was educated at
Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...
. He took his B.A. degree in 1813 with first-class honours in both
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
and
mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...
and in the following year, he obtained the chancellor's prize for a
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
essay. Shortly afterwards, he was elected a fellow of Oriel College. Election to these fellowships was by special examination intended to select the best possible minds and Hampden became a member of the group known as the "
Noetics In philosophy, noetics is a purposed branch of metaphysics concerned with the study of mind as well as intellect. There is also a reference to the science of noetics, which covers the field of thinking and knowing, thought and knowledge, as well as ...
" who were Whigs in politics and freely critical of traditional religious orthodoxy. He was reputedly one of the milder but most learned of them.
John Keble John Keble (25 April 1792 – 29 March 1866) was an English Anglican priest and poet who was one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement. Keble College, Oxford, was named after him. Early life Keble was born on 25 April 1792 in Fairford, Glouces ...
and
Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wide ...
were also fellows during this period. He left the university in 1816 and held successively a number of curacies. In 1827, he published ''Essays on the Philosophical Evidence of Christianity'', followed by a volume of ''Parochial Sermons illustrative of the Importance of the Revelation of God in Jesus Christ'' (1828).


Teaching and conflict in Oxford (1829–1846)

In 1829, Hampden returned to Oxford and in May 1830 became one of the tutors at Oriel where a disagreement about the tutors' duties led to
John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
,
Hurrell Froude Richard Hurrell Froude (25 March 1803 – 28 February 1836) was an Anglican priest and an early leader of the Oxford Movement. Life He was born in Dartington, Devon, the eldest son of Robert Froude ( Archdeacon of Totnes) and the elder brother ...
, and
Robert Wilberforce Robert Isaac Wilberforce (19 December 18023 February 1857) was an English clergyman and writer. Early life and education He was second son of abolitionist William Wilberforce, and active in the Oxford Movement. He was educated at Oriel College, ...
being relieved of their duties. Hampden was chosen to deliver the prestigious
Bampton Lectures The Bampton Lectures at the University of Oxford, England, were founded by a bequest of John Bampton. They have taken place since 1780. They were a series of annual lectures; since the turn of the 20th century they have typically been biennial ...
for 1832 in which he attempted to disentangle the original truth of Christianity from later accretions and superstitions, particularly scholastic philosophy. At the time, some thought he had committed himself to a heretical view of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
akin to
Socinianism Socinianism () is a nontrinitarian belief system deemed heretical by the Catholic Church and other Christian traditions. Named after the Italian theologians Lelio Sozzini (Latin: Laelius Socinus) and Fausto Sozzini (Latin: Faustus Socinus), uncle ...
and
Sabellianism In Christianity, Sabellianism is the Western Church equivalent to Patripassianism in the Eastern Church, which are both forms of theological modalism. Condemned as heresy, Modalism is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are three diff ...
, but serious questioning only started after the publication of his ''Observations on Religious Dissent'' in 1834, and wide-ranging outrage was sparked in 1836 after his nomination to the Regius Professorship of Divinity. In 1833, he moved from a tutorship at Oriel to become Principal of
St Mary Hall, Oxford St Mary Hall was a medieval academic hall of the University of Oxford. It was associated with Oriel College from 1326 to 1545, but functioned independently from 1545 until it was incorporated into Oriel College in 1902. History In 1320, ...
. In 1834, he was appointed
White's Professor of Moral Philosophy The White's Chair of Moral Philosophy was endowed in 1621 by Thomas White (c. 1550–1624), Canon of Christ Church as the oldest professorial post in philosophy at the University of Oxford. In 2021, the chair was renamed the Sekyra and White’s ...
without any adverse comment in preference to Newman.


Wider background of the conflicts

The years 1815–1914 were a time of radical social and political change in which religion played a significant role. Politically the Church of England was overwhelmingly Tory and opposed to political reform. At the start of this period, many Anglicans equated the religious well–being of the country to that of their own church while Protestant and Catholic dissidents suffered under discriminatory religious legislation. The Whig party and its reforming programme relied heavily on the support of Protestant dissidents who saw the parish priest as "the black recruiting–sergeant against us". Feelings ran very high, particularly between 1825 and 1850. Despite the recent, partial relief afforded by the repeal of the
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
and
Corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
Acts and the
Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, non-Anglicans still suffered from serious discrimination. The tensions had been worsened by the actions of 21 bishops in voting against the reform of Parliament in 1831 while only 3 voted in favour. Had all voted in favour the Bill would have passed. Oxford and Cambridge Universities played a central role in the Church of England. They were wholly Anglican institutions. At Oxford, students had to subscribe to the
Thirty-Nine Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
of the Church of England as part of the admission process; while at Cambridge no one could graduate without doing so. They were the principal nurseries of Anglican clergy and extremely influential in the country in general. The passing of the Reform Bill in 1832 did little to ease the tensions since the widened franchise produced a reforming parliament in which the more radical members obviously had ecclesiastical abuses in their sights as part of a very wide-ranging programme. Many dissenters campaigned for the disestablishment of the Church of England and the Government's decision to merge ten dioceses of the
Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...
with their neighbours was seen as a serious threat to the Church of England when carried into effect by the
Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833 The Church Temporalities Act 1833 (3 & 4 Will. 4 c. 37), sometimes called the Church Temporalities (Ireland) Act 1833, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland which undertook a major reorganisation of the Ch ...
. It was the direct cause of John Keble's famous assize sermon on "National Apostasy" at Oxford the following year and this in its turn led to the Tractarian Movement. By 1834, the tensions between dissenters and churchmen had reached unprecedented levels, probably because the dissenters sensed the Church of England would cling to its remaining privileges.


''Observations on Religious Dissent''

In the summer of 1834, a bill to abolish subscription on admission to a university or on taking any degree rather than requiring subscription to the
39 Articles The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
of the Church of England was rejected by the House of Lords. Hampden entered the public arena in August by publishing ''Observations on Religious Dissent'' in support of the admission of non-
Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the l ...
to Oxford University on the strength of a simple declaration of faith. Even so, urged by the Duke of Wellington (recently elected Chancellor), on 10 November the heads of the Oxford Colleges recognised that public feeling was opposed to making schoolboys subscribe to the Articles on matriculation and by a single vote agreed to abolish the practice. Hampden then produced a second edition of the pamphlet and sent a copy to
John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
who, while recognising its "tone of piety" regretted that the arguments of the work tended "altogether to make shipwreck of the Christian faith". Debate via published works and personal acrimony between the two scholars continued for two years. The decision of the heads of Colleges was rescinded but revived in March of the following year when a motion to that effect was roundly defeated in Convocation by 459 votes to 57 where all Masters of Arts whether resident or not had the right to vote and all types of traditionalist MAs combined to defeat it. A few months later, Lord Radnor introduced a parliamentary bill with the same object and Hampden was the only resident to speak out openly in favour. He became the chief target of a book on the subscription issue edited by Newman who accused Hampden of being a socinian in it.


Regius Professor

In 1836 the Regius Professor of Divinity died suddenly and the Whig Prime Minister,
Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
, offered the post to Hampden. (The only other clergyman from Oxford who in Whig eyes deserved preferment was Thomas Arnold of Rugby but he was already regarded as a heretic in conservative church circles). The news leaked outThis was Melbourne's own fault in that the offer was sent to Hampden in an envelope which Melbourne himself had franked by signing his name on the envelope as a peer was entitled to do and so saving the postage. The signature was recognised in Oxford and someone drew the obvious conclusion. before the appointment was confirmed and opposition was quickly organised in the hope of preventing it. It came from three different groups. A few high churchmen and evangelicals genuinely believed him to hold heretical views and therefore to be unfit to train future clergymen; a large number of Oxford graduates resented the favour shown to the author of ''Observations on Religious Dissent''; and a large number of
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
supporters throughout the country seized the chance of harrying a Whig government. Despite all the objections, Melbourne pushed the nomination through and Hampden became the Regius Professor of Divinity. Melbourne told the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, when the appointment was debated, with brutal frankness that few if any of them had the expert knowledge to have an informed opinion on the matter.


Bishop of Hereford

Hampden's nomination by Lord John Russell to the vacant see of Hereford in December 1847 was again the signal for organised opposition; and his consecration in March 1848 took place in spite of a remonstrance by many of the bishops, and the resistance of John Merewether, the
Dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Eth ...
, who voted against the election. As bishop of Hereford Dr Hampden made no change in his long-formed habits of studious seclusion, and though he showed no special ecclesiastical activity or zeal, the diocese certainly prospered in his charge. Among the more important of his later writings were the articles on
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
,
Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
and
Socrates Socrates (; ; –399 BC) was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought. An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no te ...
, contributed to the eighth edition of the
Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
, and afterwards reprinted with additions under the title of ''The Fathers of Greek Philosophy'' (Edinburgh, 1862). In 1866 he had a paralytic seizure, and died in London on 23 April 1868. His daughter, Henrietta Hampden, published ''Some Memorials of R. D. Hampden'' in 1871.


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* * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampden, Renn Dickson 1793 births 1868 deaths Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Bishops of Hereford Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery Fellows of Oriel College, Oxford Principals of St Mary Hall, Oxford Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford) White's Professors of Moral Philosophy