Hugh Todd (c.1657–1728) was an English cleric and academic, known also as an antiquarian and author.
Life
Born at
Blencow
Blencow or Blencowe is a small village near Penrith, Cumbria, England. It is divided by the River Petteril into Great Blencow to the south and Little Blencow to the north. Great Blencow is in the civil parish of Dacre while Little Blencow is w ...
, Cumberland, about 1658, he was son of Thomas Todd, rector of
Hutton in the Forest
Hutton in the Forest is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Skelton in the historic county of Cumberland, which now forms part of the modern county of Cumbria, England. It has belonged to the Fletcher-Vane family, latterly t ...
, who was ejected by parliamentary sequestrators and imprisoned at
Carlisle. On 29 March 1672 he matriculated at
The Queen's College, Oxford
The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...
, graduating B.A. On 4 July 1677, and becoming taberdar of the college. In the following year, on 23 December, he was elected a fellow of
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
. He proceeded M.A. on 2 July 1679, and accumulated the degrees of B.D. and D.D. on 12 December 1692.
In 1684 Todd became vicar of
Kirkland in Cumberland, but resigned the charge on being installed a prebendary of the see of Carlisle on 4 October 1685. In 1685 he was collated to the vicarage of
Stanwix in the same county, which he resigned in 1688, on becoming rector of
Arthuret
Arthuret is a civil parish in the Carlisle district of Cumbria, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,434, increasing to 2,471 at the 2011 Census. The parish includes the town of Longtown and the village of Easton. It ...
, presented by
Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston
Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston PC (24 September 1648 – 22 December 1695) was an English diplomat and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1675 and 1689. He became a Jacobite conspirator, but his reputation ...
. In 1699 he was also appointed vicar of
Penrith.
In 1702
William Nicolson
William Nicolson (1655–1727) was an English churchman, linguist and antiquarian. As a bishop he played a significant part in the House of Lords during the reign of Queen Anne, and left a diary that is an important source for the politics of ...
became
bishop of Carlisle. From early in his episcopate he clashed with Todd, who was uncompromising. After several minor disputes, in one of which Todd made his curate a churchwarden, Todd, with the dean
Francis Atterbury, undertook to defend the chapter against the bishop, who exhibited articles of inquiry against them. Todd denied the right of visitation to the bishop, declaring that it belonged to the crown. For this conduct he was first suspended and then excommunicated by Nicolson, but continued to officiate in his parish as priest, ignoring the bishop's action.
The bishops were alarmed by Todd's rejection of episcopal authority, and a bill was passed in parliament in 1708 as the
Cathedral Act, to establish their rights of visitation more firmly. After its passage the sentence of excommunication on Todd was removed. The following day
Sir James Montague
Sir James Montagu SL KC (2 February 1666 – 1723), of the Middle Temple, London, was an English lawyer and Whig politician, who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1695 and 1713. He became a judge and also served as Solicitor ...
, a Member of Parliament for , held a dinner for Nicolson and Todd, at which they were reconciled.
Todd died in Penrith on 6 October 1728.
Works
Todd contributed "The Description of Sweden" to
Moses Pitt
Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697) was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his ''Atlas'' of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of ''The Cry of t ...
's ''English Atlas'' (1680). In the ''
Philosophical Transactions'' he published "An Account of a Salt Spring on the Banks of the River Weare in Durham", and "An Account of some Antiquities found at Corbridge, Northumberland". He translated "How a Man may be Sensible of his Progress in Virtue", for ''Plutarch's Morals, translated from the Greek by several hands'' (1684), and the life of Phocion for ''The Lives of Illustrious Men, written in Latin by Cornelius Nepos, and done into English by several hands'' (Oxford, 1684).
Todd published a number of poems. He also assisted
John Walker in compiling his ''Sufferings of the Clergy''. He left manuscripts, including: ''Notitia Ecclesiæ Cathedralis Carliolensis, et Notitia Prioratus de Wedderhal'', 1688, which was edited for the Cumberland and Westmoreland Antiquarian and Archæological Society by
Richard Saul Ferguson
Richard Saul Ferguson (28 July 1837, Carlisle – 3 March 1900, Carlisle) was an English antiquary, specialising in the local history of Cumberland and Westmorland.
Life
Ferguson was born on 28 July 1837, the elder son of Joseph Ferguson (17 ...
(Tract Ser. No. 6, Kendal, 1892); and ''An Account of the City and Diocese of Carlisle'', 1689, also edited by Ferguson for the Society (same series No. 5, Kendal, 1891).
His Cumbrian manuscripts were used by Walter Fletcher for his ''Diocesan Book'', published in 2015 by the
Surtees Society.
Family
Todd married in 1700 Lucy Dalston (d. 1733), eldest daughter of Christopher Dalston.
Their daughter Catherine married Archibald Hope of Rankeillor, and was painted by
Allan Ramsay; he was a son of
Sir Thomas Hope, 8th Baronet
Sir Thomas Hope, 8th Baronet (1681–17 April 1771) was a Scottish aristocrat, lawyer and agricultural reformer.
Life
Hope was born in 1681 at Rankeillor House near Monimail in Fife. He was the son of Margaret, the daughter of Sir John Ayto ...
, a Jacobite who saw the
Battle of Culloden, and died in 1769, and was also painted by Ramsay.
Notes
External links
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Todd, Hugh
1728 deaths
17th-century English Anglican priests
Fellows of University College, Cambridge
English antiquarians
Year of birth uncertain
People from Blencow
18th-century English Anglican priests