John Worthington (1618–1671) was an English academic. He was closely associated with the

Cambridge Platonists The Cambridge Platonists were an influential group of Platonist philosophers and Christian theologians at the University of Cambridge that existed during the 17th century. The leading figures were Ralph Cudworth and Henry More. Group and its na ...

. He did not in fact publish in the field of philosophy, and is now known mainly as a well-connected diarist.

Life

He was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, and educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. At Emmanuel he was taught by Joseph Mead; he described Mead's teaching methods, and later edited his works. Another teacher was Benjamin Whichcote. Andrew Pyle (editor), ''Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Philosophers'' (2000), pp. 914-5. He was Master of

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, from 1650 to 1660, and Vice-Chancellor in 1657. At the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to ...

he was replaced by Richard Sterne, apparently willingly. Subsequently he held various church positions, being lecturer at St Benet Fink in London until burnt out in the Great Fire of London in 1666. He then was given a living at

Ingoldsby Ingoldsby is a small village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south-east from the market town of Grantham, south of the county town of Lincoln, and east of the City of Nottingham. The village contains ...

. At the end of his life he was a lecturer in Hackney. He died in London.

Family

He married Mary Whichcote, in 1657. She was niece to both Benjamin Whichcote and Elizabeth Foxcroft (née Whichcote), wife of

Ezechiel Foxcroft Ezechiel Foxcroft (1633, London – 1676) was an English esoterocist who produced the first translation of the '' Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz '' published in 1690. He was the son of the prominent merchant George Foxcroft, and his wife ...

Hartlib correspondence

Worthington was an active correspondent of

Samuel Hartlib Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb (c. 1600 – 10 March 1662)
M. Greengrass, "Hartlib, Samuel (c. 1600–1662)", ''Oxford D ...

, the "intelligencer", in the period 1655 to 1662. At Worthington's request, Hartlib's close collaborator

John Dury John Dury (1596 in Edinburgh – 1680 in Kassel) was a Scottish Calvinist minister and an intellectual of the English Civil War period. He made efforts to re-unite the Calvinist and Lutheran wings of Protestantism, hoping to succeed when he moved ...

searched in the Netherlands for the lost papers of

Henry Ainsworth Henry Ainsworth (1571–1622) was an English Nonconformist clergyman and scholar. He led the Ancient Church, a Brownist or English Separatist congregation in Amsterdam alongside Francis Johnson from 1597, and after their split led his own con ...

. He shared with Hartlib and Dury (and both

Henry More Henry More (; 12 October 1614 – 1 September 1687) was an English philosopher of the Cambridge Platonist school. Biography Henry was born in Grantham, Lincolnshire on 12 October 1614. He was the seventh son of Alexander More, mayor of Gran ...

and

John Covel John Covel (2 April 1638 – 19 December 1722) was a clergyman and scientist who became Master of Christ's College, Cambridge and vice-chancellor of the University. Diplomacy Born at Horningsheath, Suffolk, the son of William Covel, John C ...

) an interest in the Karaites. He was also involved in the connections between Hartlib and Dury with

Adam Boreel Adam Boreel (2 November 1602 in Middelburg – 20 June 1665 in Sloterdijk, Amsterdam) was a Dutch theologian and Hebrew scholar. He was one of the founders of the Amsterdam College; the Collegiants were also often called Boreelists, and regard ...

in Amsterdam, including the Boreel project to translate the Hebrew

Mishnah The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Tor ...

into Latin and Spanish. After Hartlib's death, Worthington took on the task of organising his archive of correspondence, which had been bought by

William Brereton, 2nd Baron Brereton William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

. After a period of nearly 300 years, the bundles into which he sorted it were rediscovered, and his system for the archive persists.

Works

*''The Christian's Pattern: a translation of the De Imitatione of Thomas à Kempis'' (1654) * John Smith, ''Selected Discourses'' (London, 1660) editor *''Life of Joseph Mede'' with third edition of Mede's ''Works'' (1672) *''The Great Duty of Self-Resignation to the Divine Will'' (1675) *''The Diary and Correspondence of Dr. John Worthington'', 2 vols. (1847–86, Chetham Society), editor James Crossley

Notes

References

;Attribution *

External links

CCED page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worthington, John 1618 births 1671 deaths Cambridge Platonists Academics from Greater Manchester Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Masters of Jesus College, Cambridge Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge