John Richardson Major (1797 – 29 February 1876) was a

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 Britai ...

clergyman who spent most of his life as a

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled afte ...

. He served as Master of

Wisbech Grammar School Wisbech Grammar School is an 11–18 mixed, Church of England, independent day school and sixth form in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. Founded by the Guild of the Holy Trinity in 1379, it is one of the oldest schools in the co ...

and later as the first head master of

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Early life

The son of another John Major, the young Major was educated at

Reading School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he was admitted as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

in May 1814, aged seventeen. He was elected to a scholarship in 1818 and graduated BA the next year, proceeding to MA by seniority in 1827.“MAJOR, John Richardson” in John A. Venn, ''

Alumni Cantabrigienses ''Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900'' is a biographical register of former members of the University of Cambridge whic ...

'', Part II, Vol. 4 (1951)
p. 296
/ref>

Career

On 24 December 1820, Major was ordained a deacon of the Church of England and was appointed at once as a curate at

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

, Norfolk, where he remained until 1826. In June 1821, in Norwich, he was ordained a priest. In 1826 he was appointed as Master of

and in 1831 as the first head of the new King's College School, which was established as the junior department of the recently founded King's College London. He remained in post there until 1866. The new school at first occupied the basement of the college building in the Strand, London. It was launched as a day school with eighty-five pupils, most of whom lived within walking distance. Members of the teaching staff included Gabriele Rossetti, who taught Italian, whose son,

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

, joined the school in 1837. Another early schoolmaster was the artist

John Sell Cotman John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator, author and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, the son of a silk merchant and lace dealer, Co ...

. The school grew quickly, and by 1843 was teaching five hundred boys.Frank Miles, Graeme Cranch, ''King's College School: The First 150 Years'' (London: King's College School, 1979), pp. 5–12 Major was Vicar of Wartling, Sussex, from 1846 to 1851, holding the benefice while continuing in post at King's College School. In his retirement, he became Vicar of

Arrington, Cambridgeshire Arrington is a small village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, with a population of 415 at the time of 2011 census.

, from 1871 until his death. Major was the author of many religious and classical books and was awarded the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

of Doctor of Divinity. He died at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in February 1876.

Selected publications

*''The Medea of Euripides, from the Text, and with a Translation'' (1829) *''The Orestes of Euripides'' (1830) *''The Phœnissæ of Euripides, from the Text, and with a Translation'' (1830) *''Latin Exercises for the Use of the Junior Classes in King's College School'' (1838) *''The Hecuba of Euripides'' (1840) *''The Æneid of Virgil'' (London: John W. Parker, 1845) *''The Gospel According to St. Mark: in the Original Greek, with a Digest'' (1871)

Notes

External links

John Richardson Major D.D. Photograph

Wellcome Collection Wellcome Collection is a museum and library based at 183 Euston Road, London, displaying a mixture of medical artefacts and original artworks exploring "ideas about the connections between medicine, life and art". Founded in 2007, the Wellcome C ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Major, John Richardson 1797 births 1876 deaths 19th-century English educators Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Doctors of Divinity Head Masters of King's College School People educated at Reading School