Henry Birkhead (1617?–1696) was an English academic, lawyer and Latin poet. He is now known as the founder of the
Oxford Chair of Poetry
The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to lecture, but is in effect a part-time po ...
.
Life
Birkhead was born in the parish of St. Gregory, near
St. Paul's Cathedral, London. His parents were Margaret and John Birkhead. His father died and his mother remarried and his half sister was the singer
Mary Knight. His mother was said to have had eleven children but only Mary and Henry survived childhood.
Having been educated in grammar learning by
Thomas Farnabie, he became a commoner of
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
, in Midsummer term 1633, and was admitted scholar on 28 May 1635. A convert to Catholicism, he shortly afterwards entered the
college of St. Omer
A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...
; but his conversion was short-lived.
In 1638, by the influence of Archbishop
William Laud
William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...
, he was elected fellow of
All Souls College, Oxford
All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...
, being by then bachelor of arts. After taking his master's degree (5 June 1641), he devoted himself to the study of law. In May 1643 he submitted to the authority of the visitors appointed by parliament. In 1653 he was allowed by the delegates of the university to propose a dispensation in convocation for taking the degree of doctor of physic by accumulation, provided that he should perform the necessary exercises; but it is uncertain whether he took the degree.
He resigned his fellowship in 1657, and at the
Restoration
Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to:
* Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
** Audio restoration
** Film restoration
** Image restoration
** Textile restoration
* Restoration ecology
...
became registrar of the
diocese of Norwich
The Diocese of Norwich is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction or diocese of the Church of England that forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.
History
It traces its roots in an unbroken line to the diocese of the Bishop of the East A ...
, an office which he continued to hold until 1681. He also had a chamber in the
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...
, where he frequently resided. He died on Michaelmas Eve, 1696, and was buried at
St. Margaret's Church, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...
. Mary, his half sister, was one of his executors under his 1694 will.
[ The professorship of poetry at Oxford was founded in 1708 from funds bequeathed by Birkhead.
]
Works
In 1645 he issued at Oxford 'Poemata,' printed for private circulation. In 1656 appeared 'Poematia in Elegiaca, Iambica, Polymetra Antitechnemata et Metaphrases membratim quadripertita,' Oxonii, 8vo. He joined with Henry Stubbe
Henry Stubbe or Stubbes (1632–12 July, 1676) was an English Royal physician, Latinist, Historian, Dissident, Writer and Scholar.
Life
He was born in Partney, Lincolnshire, and educated at Westminster School. Given patronage as a child by the ...
, of Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...
in publishing another volume of Latin verse in the same year. Birkhead also edited, with a preface, some philological works of Henry Jacob the younger
Henry may refer to:
People
* Henry (given name)
* Henry (surname)
* Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry
Royalty
* Portuguese royalty
** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal
** Henry, Count of Portuga ...
in 1652; and wrote several royalist Latin elegies to persons who had suffered for their devotion to Charles I. An unpublished allegorical play by Birkhead, 'The Female Rebellion,' is preserved among the Tanner MSS. (466). In 1643 there was published at Oxford a collection of verses for Sir Bevil Grenville
Sir Bevil Grenville (23 March 1596 - 5 July 1643) was an English landowner and soldier who sat as a Member of Parliament for various constituencies between 1620 to 1642, although during those years there were few parliamentary sessions. When t ...
.['Verses on the death of the right valiant Sir Bevill Grenvill, knight. Who was slaine by the rebells, on Lansdowne-hill neare Bath, July 5, 1643,'] Birkhead was one of the contributors to this collection, which included elegies by Jasper Mayne
Jasper Mayne (1604 – 6 December 1672) was an English clergyman, translator, and a minor poet and dramatist.
Mayne was baptized at Hatherleigh, Devon, on 23 November 1604, and educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford. He then e ...
, William Cartwright, Dudley Digges
Sir Dudley Digges (19 May 1583 – 18 March 1639) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1629. Digges was also a "Virginia adventurer," an investor who ventured his capital in the Virginia ...
, and others. Forty-one years afterward, in 1684, the collection was reprinted, and Birkhead, the only survivor save one of the thirteen contributors, addressed a long 'Epistle Dedicatory' to John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath
John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath PC, 29 August 1628 – 22 August 1701, was an English landowner who served in the Royalist army during the First English Civil War and was rewarded for his services after the 1660 Stuart Restoration with a title ...
, son of Sir Bevill Grenvill.
Notes
References
*
Further reading
*Joan H. Pittock (1999), ''Henry Birkhead, Founder of the Oxford Chair of Poetry: Poetry and the Redemption of History''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkhead, Henry
1617 births
1696 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford
Converts to Roman Catholicism
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
Neo-Latin poets
English lawyers
English male poets