John Griffiths (27 July 1806 – 14 August 1885) was an academic at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he was

Warden of Wadham College This is a list of Wadham College, Oxford people, including alumni, Fellows, Deans and Wardens of the College. An alphabetical list of alumni of Wadham college can be found here. Alumni Academics * Martin Aitken, archaeometrist * Amir Attaran, ...

and

Keeper of the Archives The position of Keeper of the Archives at the University of Oxford in England dates from 1634, when it was established by new statutes for the university brought in by William Laud ( Archbishop of Canterbury and Chancellor of the University) ...

Life

John Griffiths, the son of a clergyman and schoolteacher also called John Griffiths, was born on 27 July 1806 in

Rochester, Kent Rochester ( ) is a town in the unitary authority of Medway, in Kent, England. It is at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway, about from London. The town forms a conurbation with neighbouring towns Chatham, Rainham, Strood and Gillin ...

. He was educated at the

King's School, Rochester The King's School, Rochester, is an English independent school in Rochester, Kent. It is a cathedral school and, being part of the foundation of Rochester Cathedral, the Dean of Rochester serves as chair of the school's governing body. The sch ...

(his father's school) and at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

, before joining the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

as a scholar of

Wadham College Wadham College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street and Parks Road. Wadham College was founded in 1610 by Dorothy W ...

in 1824. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1827, and was made a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of Wadham in 1830, lecturing in classics and then in divinity. He was ordained as a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

in 1828, and became preacher at the

Chapel Royal, Whitehall The Chapel Royal is an establishment in the Royal Household serving the spiritual needs of the sovereign and the British Royal Family. Historically it was a body of priests and singers that travelled with the monarch. The term is now also appl ...

in 1854. He was one of the "Four Tutors" who protested in March 1841 against the Anglo-Catholic

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 ...

Tract 90 ''Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles'', better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published in 1841. It is the most famous and the most controvers ...

, despite his dislike of controversy. He later explained that he disliked the anonymous basis on which the tract had been published, with an implicit link to the university, as well as its content. His fellowship at Wadham lasted until 1854 under the statutes prevailing at the time, and he then resigned and moved to

Hampton Wick Hampton Wick, formerly a village, is a Thames-side area of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and is contiguous with Teddington and Kingston upon Thames. It is buffered by Bushy Park, one of the Royal Parks of London from Hampton and ...

. Appointed as

in 1857 (a position he held until his death), he returned to Oxford. In 1871, reluctantly, he became Warden of Wadham, resigning in 1881. He also served on various committees and held other administrative positions within the university. His publications include editions of classical texts, and some works connected with Oxford: ''An Index to Wills Proved in the Court of the Chancellor of the University of Oxford'' (1862), and an edition of the

Laudian Laudianism was an early seventeenth-century reform movement within the Church of England, promulgated by Archbishop William Laud and his supporters. It rejected the predestination upheld by the previously dominant Calvinism in favour of free will, ...

university statutes (1888). He collected medals and prints, and sold one Rembrandt etching for £1,510 in May 1883 (equivalent to about £ in present-day terms) – at that time, the highest price paid for one print. He was known as a courteous and hospitable man, formal in his dress and behaviour, and rather reserved (which seemed not to help relations with Wadham's undergraduates). He died in his home in Oxford on 14 August 1885.

References

External links

*
The grave of John and Sophia Griffiths in St Sepulchre's Cemetery, Oxford, with biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, John 1806 births 1885 deaths People educated at King's School, Rochester People educated at Winchester College Alumni of Wadham College, Oxford Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford Wardens of Wadham College, Oxford English archivists 19th-century English historians English classical scholars Keepers of the Archives of the University of Oxford English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English male writers Burials at St Sepulchre's Cemetery