Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an English Anglican priest and poet. He was a member of the

Clapham Sect The Clapham Sect, or Clapham Saints, were a group of social reformers associated with Clapham in the period from the 1780s to the 1840s. Despite the label "sect", most members remained in the established (and dominant) Church of England, which ...

, who fought for the abolition of the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

in England.

Life

Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derby, the son of John Gisborne of Yoxhall Lodge in

Needwood Forest Needwood Forest was a large area of ancient woodland in Staffordshire, England, which was largely lost at the end of the 18th century. History The forest was on extensive lands owned by the Berkeley family of Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershi ...

, Staffordshire and his wife Anne Bateman. He was educated at Harrow and entered St John's College,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

in 1776, where he established lifelong friendships with

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

and

Thomas Babington Thomas Babington of Rothley Temple (; 18 December 1758 – 21 November 1837) was an English philanthropist and politician. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, alongside more famous abolitionists such as William Wilberforce and Hannah More. An ...

. At Cambridge, he became the first Chancellor's medallist in 1780. In 1783 he became curate of

Barton-under-Needwood Barton-under-Needwood is a large village in the East Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England. Situated a mile from the A38, and located between Burton upon Trent and Lichfield. It had a population of 4,225 at the 2011 census. It is al ...

, and later that year inherited

Yoxall Yoxall is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Swarbourn on the A515 road north of Lichfield and south west of Burton upon Trent. South of the village, Yoxall Bridge crosses the River Trent. The ...

Lodge, Staffordshire, which was 3 miles from the church. The next year he married Mary Babington (b. 1760), only sister of Thomas Babington. They had six sons and two daughters. The eldest son,

Thomas Gisborne Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an English Anglican priest and poet. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, who fought for the abolition of the slave trade in England. Life Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derby, the ...

(1794–1852), became a member of parliament, and the fourth son, James, a clergyman, succeeded his father as perpetual curate of Barton in 1820. Gisborne was a central figure in the

, an abolitionist group which included William Wilberforce and Gisborne's brother-in-law Thomas Babington. Yoxall Lodge acted as a major focus of the group, and Wilberforce was a frequent visitor there. Gisborne was appointed

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of Durham Cathedral in 1823. He died at Yoxall Lodge on 24 March 1846 at the age of eighty-seven. Gisborne left money for an annual scholarship at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

, which is referred to as the Gisborne Scholarship.

Writing

left, Thomas and Mary Gisborne in a 1786 painting by Joseph Wright of Derby. Gisborne's ''Principles of Moral Philosophy'' (1789) was a forceful

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being " born again", in which an individual expe ...

attack on

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work ''Natu ...

's ''Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy'' (1785), an influential work studied at both

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Universities, arguing

morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...

as a

categorical imperative The categorical imperative (german: kategorischer Imperativ) is the central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant. Introduced in Kant's 1785 '' Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals'', it is a way of eva ...

against Paley's

utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected individuals. Although different varieties of utilitarianism admit different charac ...

standpoint. Gisborne also wrote ''Enquiry into the Duties of Men'' (1795) and ''Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex'' (1797) stressing subordination to the divinely imposed social hierarchy. His ''Walks in a Forest'' (1794) was a book of poems describing the scenery of

, which bordered his estate at

Scriptural geologist

scriptural geologist Scriptural geologists (or Mosaic geologists) were a heterogeneous group of writers in the early nineteenth century, who claimed "the primacy of literalistic biblical exegesis" and a short Young Earth time-scale. Their views were marginalised and i ...

, Gisborne wrote two books which criticised the trend of geology away from a basis in the Bible: ''Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity'' (1818) and ''Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology'' (1837).

Published works

*''Principles of Moral Philosophy'' (1789) *''Remarks Respecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade'' (1792) *''Walks in a Forest'' (1794) *''An Enquiry into the Duties of Men in the Higher and Middle Classes of Society" in Great Britain'' (1794) *''An Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex'' (1797) *''Poems Sacred and Moral'' (1798) *''A Selection of Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use'', with Jonathan Stubbs (1805) *''Sermons Volume 1'' (1809)"Sermons Vol. 1
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

*''A Familiar Survey of the Christian Religion and of History'' (1810) *''Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity'' (1818) *''Essays on Recollection of Friends in a Future State'' (1822) *''Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology'' (1837)

Hymns

*''A Soldier's Course from Battles Won'' *''Hark! 'Tis the Bell with Solemn Toll'' *''O Father, Glorify Thy Name'' *''Saviour, When Night Involves the Skies'' *''Thy Humblest Works with Full Accord'' *''When Groves by Moonlight Silence Keep''

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gisborne, Thomas 1758 births 1846 deaths People educated at Harrow School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English philosophers Evangelical Anglican clergy Clapham Sect People from Derby Paintings by Joseph Wright of Derby Anglican poets People from Yoxall