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Sir John Fenn (26 November 1739 – 14 February 1794) 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 ...
antiquary. He is best remembered for collecting, editing, and publishing the
Paston Letters The ''Paston Letters'' is a collection of correspondence between members of the Paston family of Norfolk gentry and others connected with them in England between the years 1422 and 1509. The collection also includes state papers and other impor ...
, describing the life and political scheming of the gentry in
Medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...
. He was also a justice of the peace who served as
High Sheriff of Norfolk The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually (in March) by the Crown. The High Sheriff of Norfolk was originally the principal law enforcement officer in Norfolk and presided at the assizes and other imp ...
for 1791/2.


Life

Fenn was born 26 November 1739, the son of a surgeon, and was educated at the grammar schools of Scarning and Bottisdale (
Botesdale Botesdale is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is about south west of Diss, south of Norwich and north east of Bury St Edmunds. The village of Rickinghall merges with Botesda ...
) from which he was admitted to
Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...
. At university he became friends with
John Frere John Frere (10 August 1740 – 12 July 1807) was an English antiquary and a pioneering discoverer of Old Stone Age or Lower Palaeolithic tools in association with large extinct animals at Hoxne, Suffolk in 1797. Life Frere was born in R ...
, and in 1763 he courted his sister Ellenor. They married 1 January 1766 and went to live at
Dereham Dereham (), also known as East Dereham, is a town and civil parish in the Breckland District of the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the A47 road, about 15 miles (25 km) west of the city of Norwich and 25 miles (40& ...
in
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. (
Ellenor Fenn Ellenor Fenn ( Frere; 1743–1813; pseudonyms, Mrs. Teachwell, Mrs. Lovechild) was a prolific 18th-century British writer of children's books. Early life Ellenor Frere was born on 12 March 1743/44 in Westhorpe, Suffolk to Sheppard and Susanna ...
was subsequently the author of children's books, under the pseudonyms of Mrs Teachwell and Mrs Lovechild.) After their marriage the couple lived in Dereham. They had no children, but brought up an orphaned heiress and later their nephew,
William Frere William Frere (28 November 1775 – 25 May 1836), was an English lawyer and academic, a law-serjeant and Master of Downing College, Cambridge. Life Frere was the fourth son of John Frere of Roydon, South Norfolk, and younger brother of John ...
. Between 1768 and 1775 Fenn helped William Whittingham to publish the remaining parts of the continuation of
Francis Blomefield Rev. Francis Blomefield (23 July 170516 January 1752), FSA, Rector of Fersfield in Norfolk, was an English antiquarian who wrote a county history of Norfolk: ''An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk''. It include ...
's ''History of Norfolk''. He also became friendly with the antiquary
Thomas Martin of Palgrave Thomas Martin (8 March 1696/7 – 7 March 1771), known as "Honest Tom Martin of Palgrave", was an antiquarian and lawyer. Early life Martin was born at Thetford in the school house of St. Mary's parish, which is the only parish of that town si ...
, and after the latter's death in 1772 assisted in cataloguing many of the latter's manuscripts prior to their sale. It was at this time that he acquired the Paston Letters. The first two volumes of Fenn's edition of the famous letters appeared in January 1787, dedicated to
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
, and caused a literary sensation. Fenn received a knighthood after presenting the originals to the king in May 1787. A third and fourth volume were published in May 1789, but further progress was delayed by his appointment as High Sheriff of Norfolk for 1791. Work on the final volume of letters was almost complete when he died, on 14 February 1794, but a planned biography of the Pastons was never completed. He was buried with his wife at the Frere family's church of St Bartholomew,
Finningham Finningham is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of Suffolk in the East of England, located approximately 7.5 miles north of Stowmarket and 16 miles from the county town of Ipswich. In 2011 its population was 480. Etymology ...
, Suffolk, where there was erected a significant marble monument to them both by John Bacon.''
Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851 The ''Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660–1851'' is a biographical dictionary of sculptors active in Britain in the period between the Restoration of Charles II and the Great Exhibition of 1851. It has appeared in three editions, published in ...
'', new revised edition, p. 28.


References

*M.F. Serpell, "Sir John Fenn, his friends and the Paston Letters", Antiquaries Journal, 63 (1983), 95–121. *David Stoker, Innumerable letters of good consequence in history': the discovery and first publication of the Paston Letters". The Library, 6th ser. 17, (1995), 107–155. *William Frere "Advertisement containing notices of the life of Sir John Fenn", in ''Original letters written during the reigns of Henry VI., Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III, and Henry VII.'', d. John Fenn (1787–1823), vol 5, vii–xxxviii. {{DEFAULTSORT:Fenn, John 1739 births 1794 deaths People from Dereham English antiquarians 18th-century antiquarians Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge High Sheriffs of Norfolk