Thomas Lockey (c. 1602 – 29 June 1679) was an English librarian and Anglican priest, who was Bodley's Librarian from 1660 to 1665.

Life

Lockey's parentage is unknown, as is his date of birth, which was probably sometime in 1602. He was a scholar at

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

, proceeding to Christ Church, Oxford in 1618. He

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

on 16 March 1621, obtained his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree in 1622, his

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in 1625 and his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1634. He was ordained as a priest 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 Britai ...

and served as vicar of

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, Berkshire, until 1633, and may have been the "Thomas Lockey" who was a

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 ...

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of ...

from 1639 to 1642. Lockey lived in Oxford, working as a tutor at Christ Church and preaching. One of his sermons, in January 1651, offended the Parliamentarians in charge of the university at that time, and he was thereafter banned from preaching and teaching; he left Oxford and did not return until

the Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

of King Charles II. Lockey was appointed Bodley's Librarian (the head of the Bodleian Library at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

) on 28 September 1660, having been appointed prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral earlier in the year. He obtained his Doctor of Divinity degree in November 1660. As Librarian, he was known for being courteous, but the antiquarian Anthony Wood described him as "not altogether fit for that office." Thomas Hearne, writing in the first half of the 18th century, described Lockey as "a very curious, nice man", who was "reckon'd the best in the university for classical learning". As Librarian, Lockey began, but did not finish, a catalogue of

John Selden John Selden (16 December 1584 – 30 November 1654) was an English jurist, a scholar of England's ancient laws and constitution and scholar of Jewish law. He was known as a polymath; John Milton hailed Selden in 1644 as "the chief of learned ...

's books and manuscripts that had been acquired by the library during the time in office of his predecessor, Thomas Barlow. His final act as Librarian was to give a speech in Latin when the

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and the Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon (18 February 16099 December 1674), was an English statesman, lawyer, diplomat and historian who served as chief advisor to Charles I during the First English Civil War, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II fro ...

, and

Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester, KG, KB, FRS (16025 May 1671) was an important commander of Parliamentary forces in the First English Civil War, and for a time Oliver Cromwell's superior. Early life He was the eldest son of Henry M ...

) visited the Bodleian on 8 September 1665. He resigned on 29 November 1665. He was made a canon of Christ Church Cathedral in 1663, and was installed in 1665. He died of a "surfeit of cherries" on 29 June 1679, and was buried in the cathedral. His goods, which included a large number of books, statutes, paintings, rings, medals and a telescope, were valued at £652 13s 6d (approximately £ as of ).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lockey, Thomas 1600s births 1679 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests English librarians Bodley's Librarians Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford People educated at Westminster School, London