Thomas Henry Stokoe DD (18338 December 1903), known as T. H. Stokoe, was an English clergyman,

schoolmaster The word schoolmaster, or simply master, refers to a male school teacher. This usage survives in British independent schools, both secondary and preparatory, and a few Indian boarding schools (such as The Doon School) that were modelled after B ...

, author and headmaster. He began his teaching career at

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...

and

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils 13-18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson (rector), Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oa ...

, was second master of

Clifton College ''The spirit nourishes within'' , established = 160 years ago , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent boarding and day school , religion = Christian , president = , head_label = Head of College , head ...

and then head of Richmond Grammar School in North Yorkshire, of

Reading School Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

, and of

King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a public school in Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The school was founded in 1829 by King George IV, as the junior department of King's College London an ...

. His ''Old Testament History for Schools'' was a standard textbook which went through numerous editions.

Early life

The only son of Robert Stokoe,

gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

, of

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden, Northumberland, Warden nearby, and ...

, Northumberland, Stokoe was educated at

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...

and

Lincoln College, Oxford Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...

, where he matriculated at the age of seventeen on 26 March 1851, and became an

exhibitioner An exhibition is a type of scholarship award or bursary. United Kingdom and Ireland At the universities of Dublin, Oxford, Cambridge and Sheffield, at some public schools, and various other UK educational establishments, an exhibition is a sma ...

. In 1855 he took

first class honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

in Greats, graduating BA. He proceeded MA in 1857 and in 1859 won the University's Denyer Prize in Theology.'Stokoe, Thomas Henry', in Joseph Foster, ''Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford'' (Parker and Co., Oxford, 1891)'Stokoe, Thomas Henry', in '' Crockford's Clerical Directory'' for 1868, p. 628

Life

Stokoe became a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

of 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 1857 and was ordained a priest by Thomas Musgrave,

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

, in 1858. He taught at

in 18571858''Marlborough College register from 1843 to 1904 inclusive'' (1905), p. xxiii before returning to Uppingham as an assistant master. On 28 December 1860, Stokoe married Sarah Emily (born 22 March 1840), a daughter of Robert Spofforth,

Esq. Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman a ...

, of Millfield,

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

,The Gentleman's magazine and historical review: Volume 208 (1860)
p. 180
/ref> and they soon had two sons, Henry Robert (born 1861) and Ernest William (born 1863), who both followed their father to Oxford. Stokoe's wife had one surviving brother, an officer of the 59th who served in the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire and the French Emp ...

, and four sisters, two of whom also married clergymen, H. Piggot-James, a chaplain to the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, and Charles James Fuller,

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Ovingham Ovingham is a civil parish and village in the Tyne Valley of south Northumberland, England. It lies on the River Tyne east of Hexham with neighbours Prudhoe, Ovington, Wylam and Stocksfield. The River Tyne provided an obstacle between O ...

, Northumberland. In September 1862 Stokoe joined the staff of the newly founded

in Bristol, becoming the first schoolmaster recorded in the school register. He left Clifton in 1863, having served for a year as second master, the equivalent of deputy headmaster. In 1863 he was appointed headmaster of Richmond Grammar School and

perpetual curate Perpetual curate was a class of resident parish priest or incumbent curate within the United Church of England and Ireland (name of the combined Anglican churches of England and Ireland from 1800 to 1871). The term is found in common use mainly du ...

of Trinity Church,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, North Yorkshire, where he remained until 1871. He then went as head to

(1871–1877) and finally was headmaster of

(then in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

) from 1880 to 1889. His ''Old Testament History for Schools'' was a standard textbook which went through numerous editions. He also wrote manuals on the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

s, the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

St Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

, and the

early Church Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

. He was awarded the degree of

Doctor of Divinity 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 ran ...

in 1871. On retiring from King's College School, Stokoe became an honorary

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

King's College, London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, and served as

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby, ...

, Leicestershire, from 1889 to 1894, of St Michael at the North Gate, Oxford, from 1894 to 1897, and of Waddington, Lincolnshire, from then until his death. He died on 8 December 1903 at Waddington, at the age of seventy. His elder son, Henry Robert Stokoe, was an author on classical languages whose works include ''Latin Verbs'' (1935) and ''The Understanding of Syntax'' (1937).Reviewed in ''The Journal of education'', vol. 70 (1938), p. 323

Selected publications

*''First Days and Early Letters of the Church'' (various editions) *''Manual of the Acts'' (various editions) *''Manual of the Four Gospels'' (various editions) *''Old Testament History for Schools'' (various editions) *''On the Use and Abuse of the Proverb, 'Charity Begins at Home' '' (Denyer Prize Essay, Oxford, 1859) *''The Life and Letters of St Paul'' (various editions) *''The Lord our helper: a sermon preached in the parish church of Richmond, Yorkshire, to the trustees, boys, and friends of Richmond School, on 22 June 1864, the last day of the school half-year'' (1864)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokoe, T. H. 1833 births 1903 deaths Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford People educated at Uppingham School 19th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of King's College London Head Masters of King's College School