Robert Thistlethwayte (baptized 16 December 1690 – c. January, 1744) was the third son of Francis Thistlethwayte (b. 1658) of

Winterslow Winterslow is a civil parish with a population of around 2,000, about northeast of Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, and lying south of the A30 London Road. It is sited on the Roman road between Old Sarum and Winchester. Settlements in the par ...

, Wiltshire. He was a

Warden of Wadham College This is a list of Wadham College, Oxford people, including alumni, Fellows, Deans and Wardens of the College. An alphabetical list of alumni of Wadham college can be found here. Alumni Academics * Martin Aitken, archaeometrist * Amir Attara ...

, Oxford and

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man in 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 1737 Thistlethwaite fled to

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

after being accused of making

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

advances towards a student, William French, whose tutor John Swinton was also accused of

practises. Satirical poetry was written about these events. The following

limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

possibly also refers to Thistlethwayte. ::There once was a Warden of Wadham ::Who approved of the folkways of Sodom, :::For a man might, he said, :::Have a very poor head ::But be a fine Fellow, at bottom. Allegations of homosexual behaviour, which was considered scandalous at that time, and the College's decision to take out fire insurance combined to prompt the following verse: ::Well did the am'rous sone of Wadham ::Insure their house 'gainst future flame; ::They knew their crime, the crime of Sodom, ::And judg'd their punishment the same.

References

1690 births 1744 deaths English LGBT people Wardens of Wadham College, Oxford {{Christian-clergy-stub