John Pridden (3 January 1758–5 April 1825) was an English cleric and antiquary.

Life

The eldest son of John Pridden, a bookseller of

Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. The area include ...

and friend of Joseph Brasbridge, by his wife Anne, daughter of Humphrey Gregory of

Whitchurch, Shropshire Whitchurch is a market town in the north of Shropshire, England. It lies east of the Welsh border, 2 miles south of the Cheshire border, north of the county town of Shrewsbury, south of Chester, and east of Wrexham. At the 2011 Census, the ...

, he was born in London on 3 January 1758. He entered

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

on 3 August 1764, aged 7, and went on 15 April 1777 to

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

. He graduated B.A. in 1781, and was ordained soon after, and was incorporated M.A. at St. John's College, Cambridge. Pridden was successively afternoon lecturer at Tavistock Chapel, London (1782), minor canon of St Paul's Cathedral (November 1782), and vicar of Heybridge,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

(July 1783). He was curate (from 1783 to 1803) of St. Bride's, Fleet Street, where the rector was non-resident; vicar of

Little Wakering Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

, Essex (1788); chaplain to Earl Powlett (1789); priest in ordinary of his majesty's Chapel Royal (1795); and minor canon of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

. He was vicar of

Caddington Caddington () is a village and civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It is between the Luton/Dunstable urban area (to the north), and Hertfordshire (to the south). The western border of the parish is Watlin ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

, from 1797, when he resigned his Essex livings; and finally was rector of the united parishes of St. George, Botolph Lane, and St. Botolph, Bishopsgate. Excursions into architecture resulted in a design for the sea-bathing infirmary at

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, of which Pridden was joint founder with

John Coakley Lettsom John Coakley Lettsom (1744 – 1 November 1815, also Lettsome) was an English physician and philanthropist born on Little Jost Van Dyke in the British Virgin Islands into an early Quaker settlement. The son of a West Indian planter and an Iris ...

, and for many years honorary secretary; a new vicarage at Caddington in 1812, and a plan for joining Snow Hill and

Holborn Hill Holborn Hill is a street and a ward in the town of Millom, in Cumbria, England. Historically it was a village in the administrative county of Cumberland and predates Millom. In 2001 the population of the ward was 2,562, living in 1,083 househ ...

, which he submitted to the Corporation of London. Pridden died on 5 April 1825, aged 67, at his house in Fleet Street, and was buried on 12 April at St Mary's, Islington, beside his first wife.

Works

Pridden was an antiquary and an amateur artist, as well as an architect. He was elected 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 1785. To the ''Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica'' he contributed ''Appendix to the History of Reculver and Herne'' (1787) and drawings, particularly illustrating the Leicestershire collections of his father-in-law John Nichols. His major antiquarian achievement was the continuation of the index and glossary to the ''Rolls of Parliament'', which had been started by John Strachey. On this he spent thirty years. It was completed by Edward Upham, and published in 1832, London.

Family

His first wife, Anne, was daughter of John Nichols. His second wife, also Anne, daughter of Robert Pickwood of London, survived him. He had no issue.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Pridden, John 1758 births 1825 deaths 18th-century English Anglican priests 19th-century English Anglican priests English antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London People educated at St Paul's School, London Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge