John Gutch (10 January 1746 – 1 July 1831) was an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
clergyman and official of 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 ...
. He was also an antiquarian, with a particular interest in the history of the university.
Life
John Gutch's father, also called John, was town clerk of
Wells, Somerset
Wells () is a cathedral city and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset, located on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, south-east of Weston-super-Mare, south-west of Bath and south of Bristol. Although the population recorde ...
; Gutch was born there on 10 January 1746 and proceeded to study 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 ...
,
matriculating
Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination.
Australia
In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...
as a member of
All Souls College
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 ...
in 1765, graduating in 1767. He was ordained in the following year and was initially a
curate
A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...
in
Wellow and
Foxcote near
Bath, Somerset
Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...
. In 1770, he was appointed chaplain of All Souls College (a post that he would hold until his death over sixty years later), also becoming college librarian in 1771 and chaplain of
Corpus Christi College in 1778. He was appointed
Registrar of the university in 1797, retiring from this position in 1824 with an annuity of £200 from the university.
Gutch was rector of
Waterstock, Oxfordshire from 1777 to 1789 and of
Kirkby Underwood
Kirkby Underwood is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 200 at the 2001 census, increasing to 220 at the 2011 census. It is situated north from Bourne an ...
, Lincolnshire from 1786 to 1831. From 1795 he was also rector of
St Clement's Church, Oxford
St Clement's Church is an evangelical Church of England parish church situated just to the east of central Oxford, England.
History
The present church dates from the 1820s, but replaced a much older building, which was demolished in 1829.
Th ...
, where from 1824 his curate was
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 ...
. He died on 1 July 1831 and was buried at
St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford.
There is a memorial to him in
St Clement's Church, Oxford
St Clement's Church is an evangelical Church of England parish church situated just to the east of central Oxford, England.
History
The present church dates from the 1820s, but replaced a much older building, which was demolished in 1829.
Th ...
.
Scholar
Gutch's major contribution to scholarship was his edition of
Anthony Wood's ''History of Oxford University'', a work which had had an involved publication history. Gutch's other publications included two volumes of miscellaneous historical material about the university.
Wood's ''History of Oxford University''
By around 1668 Wood had finished a large manuscript, written in English, of the university's history. It was divided into two parts: the first dealt with the general history of the University up to 1648, and the second with the Schools, Lectureships, the Colleges and Halls, Libraries, and the chief Magistrates (''Fasti'') Chancellors, Provosts etc. Wood's MS was purchased by the Officers of the
University Press
A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. Most are nonprofit organizations and an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars ...
for £100, on condition that it be published in a Latin translation. It was duly translated, and edited by
John Fell.
Fell made his own additions, emendations and deletions, in particular striking out passages which Wood had inserted in praise of
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
, and substituted some disparagement. The Latin edition was printed in the basement of the
Sheldonian Theatre
Sheldonian Theatre, located in Oxford, England, was built from 1664 to 1669 after a design by Christopher Wren for the University of Oxford. The building is named after Gilbert Sheldon, chancellor of the University at the time and the project's ...
and published in two volumes in 1674.
Wood complained about this translation.
Thomas Warton
Thomas Warton (9 January 172821 May 1790) was an English literary historian, critic, and poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate in 1785, following the death of William Whitehead.
He is sometimes called ''Thomas Warton the younger'' to disti ...
, in his ''Life and Literary Remains of
Ralph Bathurst
Ralph Bathurst, FRS (1620 – 14 June 1704) was an English theologian and physician.
Early life
He was born in Hothorpe, Northamptonshire in 1620 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry.
He graduated with a B.A. degree from Trinity C ...
'' (1761), was forthright: "The translation ... is full of mistakes; it is also stiff and unpleasing, perpetually disgusting the reader with the affectation of phraseology." After some revision, Wood began in August 1676 to rewrite his original, continuing almost to his death in 1695. He left this new manuscript to the University, and it was deposited in the Bodleian library, as two volumes in
folio
The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...
.
Gutch's edition
Gutch edited this second manuscript copy and published it in five volumes from 1786 to 1796. The publication history is again somewhat convoluted,
He began with the second half of vol. 2 of the 1674 Latin edition, the history of the Colleges and Halls (1786), followed by the ''Fasti Oxoniensis'' (1790), the latter part of vol. 1 of 1674. These were followed by the general history of the University (the Annals) in three volumes, the first of which (1792) contained Lives of the author, partially adapted by Gutch from Wood's autobiography. Gutch's last volume of the general history (1796) also contained (from p. 709) the first half of vol. 2 of the Latin edition, namely, the history of the Schools, Lectureships, Officers, Libraries etc.
Further work on Wood's legacy
Andrew Clark (1856–1922) did much further work on Wood's papers for the Oxford Historical Society. He published from them ''Antiquities of the City of Oxford'' (1889–1899), in three volumes, and ''The Life and Times of Anthony Wood'' (1891–1900) in five volumes.
Publications
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*
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*
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[Annals, 1647-1648, including Visitation after the Civil Wars; History of the Ancient and Present Schools (p. 709); Theatre; Lectureships, inc. Shagglyng lectures (p. 901); Offices of Orator and Archives (p. 904); Public Libraries (p. 910); Bodleian Picture Gallery (p. 954); Addenda & Corrigenda (p. 985): Index (p. 1000, unpaginated).]
Family
Gutch married in 1775 Elizabeth Weller (1753–1799), daughter of Richard Weller who had worked as butler for Magdalen College. They had six sons and six daughters; including
John Mathew Gutch
John Mathew Gutch (1776-1861) was an English journalist and historian.
Life
John Mathew, eldest son of John Gutch, was born in 1776, probably at Oxford, and was educated at Christ's Hospital, where he was the schoolfellow of Samuel Taylor Coler ...
and
Robert Gutch.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gutch, John
1746 births
1831 deaths
Alumni of All Souls College, Oxford
Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford
18th-century English Anglican priests
19th-century English Anglican priests
English antiquarians
Registrars of the University of Oxford