Richard Parkinson (1797–1858) was an English clergyman, known as a canon of

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother ...

, college principal, theologian and antiquarian.

Background

The son of John Parkinson, by his wife Margaret Blackburne, he was born at Woodgates, Admarsh, near Lancaster, on 17 September 1797. He was educated at the grammar schools of Chipping, Hawkstead, and Sedbergh, and at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, where he matriculated in December 1815. At Sedbergh he was the last pupil who studied mathematics under John Dawson, and at Cambridge his tutor was Thomas Calvert. He graduated B.A. in 1820, proceeding M.A. in 1824, B.D. in 1838, and

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

on 10 December 1851.

Career

On leaving Cambridge in 1820, Parkinson was for a short time master of Lea School, near

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. He edited the ''Preston Sentinel'', a conservative newspaper, during its one year's existence (1821), and contributed to its successor, the ''Preston Pilot''. In 1823 he was ordained, and became curate of St. Michael's-on-Wyre, Lancashire. Three years later he was appointed theological lecturer or tutor at

St Bees Theological College St Bees Theological College, close to the coast of Cumberland, was the first independent theological college to be established for the training of Church of England ordinands. It was founded in 1816 by George Henry Law, Bishop of Chester, in what ...

, Cumberland; twenty years later he was its principal. In 1830 he was appointed perpetual curate of

Whitworth Whitworth may refer to: Places United Kingdom *Whitworth, County Durham, a former civil parish in England **Whitworth Hall, County Durham *Whitworth, Lancashire, a town in England *Whitworth Art Gallery, an art gallery in Manchester, England *Whitw ...

, near Rochdale This living he resigned in 1841, in favour of his curate. In 1833 he preached at Bishop Charles Sumner's visitation at Manchester; and he was elected (on 20 May 1833) as fellow of the collegiate chapter. In 1837, and again in 1838, he was Hulsean lecturer at Cambridge. His retention of the fellowship (and then canonry) of the collegiate church after his appointment in September 1846 as principal of

, and incumbent of St Bees Priory, led to some bad feeling. He was a liberal donor to church objects, and gave towards the cost of rebuilding the vicarage-house and the old conventual abbey of St Bees. Parkinson grave st bees

On 1 March 1857 Parkinson was seized with an attack of paralysis while in the pulpit of Manchester Cathedral. On 28 January 1858 he had a second paralytic seizure at St. Bees, and died on the same day. He was one of the founder Members of the Chetham Society, and served as Vice-President from 1843 to 1858.

Works

Parkinson wrote for '' Blackwood's Magazine'', one of his pieces (November 1820) being a parody on ''Young Lochinvar''. He obtained the Seatonian prize at Cambridge in 1830 for his poem on the ''Ascent of Elijah'', ahead of

Winthrop Mackworth Praed Winthrop Mackworth Praed (28 July 180215 July 1839)—typically written as W. Mackworth Praed—was an English politician and poet. Life Early life Praed was born in London, United Kingdom. The family name of Praed was derived from the ma ...

and others. Parkinson edited for the Chetham Society: * ''The Life of Adam Martindale'', 1845. * ''The Autobiography of Henry Newcome'', 1851–2, 2 vols. * ''The Private Journal and Literary Remains of John Byrom'', 4 vols. 1853–8. The notes to this were contributed by Francis Robert Raines and James Crossley. With sermons and pamphlets, Parkinson also published: * ''Sermons on Points of Doctrine and Rules of Duty'', 1825. * ''Poems Sacred and Miscellaneous'', Whitehaven, 1832; reissued with Appendix in 1845. * ''Rationalism and Revelation: Hulsean Lectures'', 1837. * ''The Constitution of the Visible Church of Christ: Hulsean Lectures'', 1838. * ''The Old Church Clock'', 1843; 4th edit. 1852; 5th edit. 1880, with memoir and notes by John Evans. This story, in which is interwoven a narrative of "

Wonderful Walker Robert Walker (1709–1802), called Wonderful Walker, was an unassuming Church of England priest in Dunnerdale, now in Cumbria. William and Dorothy Wordsworth became interested in the local stories about him, around 1804; William mentioned Walk ...

", was originally issued in the ''Christian Magazine''.

Family

Parkinson married, in 1831, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Hartley of Gill Foot,

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

(she died in 1860), and had two sons and two daughters.

Notes

;Attribution

External links

Chetham Society
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Parkinson, Richard 1797 births 1858 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge 19th-century English Anglican priests English theologians People from Lancaster, Lancashire Clergy from Lancashire People from St Bees Chetham Society