Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 2nd Baronet (16 February 1807 – 13 June 1862)Leigh Rayment, ''The Baronetage of England, Ireland, Nova Scotia, Great Britain and the United Kingdom'', (accessed 12 Aug 2014). translated the

Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...

version of the Bible into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Life

Lancelot Brenton was the second of four children of Sir Jahleel Brenton, 1st Baronet, a Vice Admiral in the British

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

who was made a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

for services to the crown. It was this title that Lancelot Brenton inherited (his older brother John Jervis Brenton having died in 1817). Lancelot however didn't inherit his father's acceptance of war; when he re-edited his father's biography he made it clear that he was a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. Brenton matriculated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, wh ...

in 1824, graduating B.A. in 1828. He was ordained by 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 1830. By December 1831 he had left the established Church to found an independent chapel in Bath with a friend, William Moreshead.Peter L. Embley
''The Origins and Early Development of the Plymouth Brethren''
p. 22 (accessed 12 Aug 2014). He had met

John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of moder ...

at Oxford in 1830. By 1835 this chapel was associated with the Plymouth Brethren and by 1837 Brenton was contributing to ''The Christian Witness'', an early Brethren journal, and appears to have cemented his relationship with the emerging Brethren movement. On the death of his father in 1844, Brenton became the second baronet.Peter L. Embley
''The Origins and Early Development of the Plymouth Brethren''
p. 23 (accessed 12 Aug 2014). He moved to the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

from Bath in 1849 where, although married, he died childless, the second and last Baronet of his line.

Works

Brenton's

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of the

was the second English translation available. It was first released in 1844 and has gone through several reprints and formats in the over a century and a half since. In an autobiographical piece, Brenton discussed his

views. Despite a marked naval background, he put it down to his father's

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

religious attitude.

External links

* Scans of Brenton's translation of the Septuagint at the Wikimedia Commons

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenton, Sir Lancelot 1807 births 1862 deaths 19th-century English clergy 19th-century British translators Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom British Plymouth Brethren English Protestant ministers and clergy English translators Former Anglicans Greek–English translators Translators of the Bible into English