John Gage Rokewode (13 September 1786 – 14 October 1842 at Claughton Hall,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
) was a historian and
antiquarian.
Life
He was the fourth son of Sir Thomas Gage of
Hengrave
Hengrave is a small village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is to the North the town of Bury St Edmunds along the A1101 road. It is surrounded by the parishes of Flempton, Culford, Fornham S ...
,
Suffolk and took the name Rokewode in 1838 when he succeeded to the Rokewode estates. John was a descendant of a maternal line from
Ambrose Rookwood
Ambrose Rookwood (c. 1578 – 31 January 1606) was a member of the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot, a conspiracy to replace the Protestant King James I with a Catholic sovereign. Rookwood was born into a wealthy family of Catholic recusants, and edu ...
.
He was educated at
Stonyhurst College, and having studied law under
Charles Butler he was called to the bar, but never practiced, preferring to devote himself to antiquarian pursuits. 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. Soci ...
in 1818, and was director from 1829 till 1842. He was also elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemat ...
in April 1824.
Works
In 1822 he published
The History and Antiquities of Hengrave in Suffolk' and in 1838 ''The History and Antiquities of Suffolk''. His edition of
Jocelin de Brakelond's chronicle, published by the
Camden Society
The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary a ...
in 1840, furnished
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy.
Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
with much of his materials for ''
Past and Present'' (1843). Many papers by him appeared in ''Archaeologia'', many of these being republished as separate pamphlets, including the description of the
Benedictionals of St. Æthelwold and of
Robert of Jumieges; he also printed the
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...
of the Rokewode family with charters relating thereto in ''Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica'', II. He contributed to the ''Orthodox Journal'' and the ''Catholic Gentleman's Magazine''. The ''
Gentleman's Magazine
''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term '' magazine'' (from the French ''magazine' ...
'' published a full list of his work with the Society of Antiquaries, these include,
* ''A Dissertation on St. Æthelwold's Benedictional,'' an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century, in ''Archæologia,'' xxiv. 1–117, with thirty-two plates;
* ''A Description of a Benedictional or Pontifical, called Benedictionarius Roberti Archiepiscopi,'' an illuminated manuscript of the tenth century in the public library at Rouen,'' ib. pp. 118–136;
* ''The Anglo-Saxon Ceremonial of the Dedication and Consecration of Churches,'' ib. xxv. 235–74;
* ''Remarks on the Louterell Psalter,'' printed, with six plates, in the ''
Vetusta Monumenta
''Vetusta Monumenta'' is the title of a published series of illustrated antiquarian papers on ancient buildings, sites and artefacts, mostly those of Britain, published at irregular intervals between 1718 and 1906 by the Society of Antiquaries o ...
,'' vol. vi.;
* ''A Memoir on the Painted Chamber in the Palace at Westminster, printed, with fourteen plates, in the same volume of ''Vetusta Monumenta.''
Many of his manuscripts were sold after his death with his valuable library. However, Sir Thomas Rokewode-Gage, 8th Baronet, retained many of these, which he donated to the library of the
Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute
The Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute was a victorian organisation established in 1848 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. It had a lively existence for five years until 1853, when the local activities concerning antiquaries and natural hi ...
when it was established in 1848.
The Society of Antiquaries possesses a bust of him by
R. C. Lucas. He died suddenly while out shooting.
References
;Attribution
*. Cites:
**''Orthodox Journal'', XV, 276
**
Thompson Cooper
Thompson Cooper (8 January 1837, Cambridge – 5 March 1904, London) was an English journalist, man of letters, and compiler of reference works. He became a specialist in biographical information, and is noted as the most prolific contributor to t ...
in ''
Dictionary of National Biography''
**
Joseph Gillow
Joseph Gillow (5 October 1850, Preston, Lancashire – 17 March 1921, Westholme, Hale, Cheshire) was an English Roman Catholic antiquary, historian and bio-bibliographer, "the Plutarch of the English Catholics".
Biography
Born in Frenchwood Hous ...
, ''Bibl. Dict. Eng. Caths.''
External links
Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gage Rokewode, John
1786 births
1842 deaths
Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London
People educated at Stonyhurst College
Rokewode
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...