William Benham (15 January 1831–30 July 1910) was a British churchman, academic and author.
Early life
Born on 15 January 1831 at
West Meon
West Meon is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, with a population of 749 people at the 2011 census.
Geography
It is north-west of East Meon, on the headwaters of the River Meon. Its closest town is Petersfield which is to the ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...
, where his father James Benham was postmaster, he was educated at the village school. Its founder, the rector
Henry Vincent Bayley, made him his secretary, taught him Greek and Latin, and at his death left instructions that the boy's education should be continued.
Benham was sent in 1844 to
St. Mark's College, Chelsea, recently established under
Derwent Coleridge, to be trained as a schoolmaster. On completing his course he taught in a rural school, and was tutor to John Sebright between 1849 and 1852. With the support of Bayley's family he was able to attend the theological department of
King's College, London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King G ...
, where his religious position was influenced by
F. D. Maurice
John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War, interest in Maurice has expanded."Fre ...
.
Priest
In 1857 Benham was ordained deacon, and priest in 1858. He was appointed divinity tutor and lecturer in English literature at St. Mark's, Chelsea, still under Coleridge. He remained there until in 1865 he became editorial secretary to the
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is a UK-based Christian charity. Founded in 1698 by Thomas Bray, it has worked for over 300 years to increase awareness of the Christian faith in the UK and across the world.
The SPCK is t ...
. At the same time he engaged in Sunday ministerial work as curate of
St. Lawrence Jewry, under
Benjamin Morgan Cowie
Benjamin Morgan Cowie was Dean of Manchester and then Exeter, both in England, in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Born on 8 June 1816, he was educated at St John's College, Cambridge and graduated Senior Wrangler in 1839. Ordained in 18 ...
. From 1866 to 1871 he was also professor of modern history at
Queen's College, Harley Street, in succession to Maurice.
Benham's preaching attracted the attention of Archbishop
Charles Longley, who made him in 1867 first vicar of his local parish of
Addington, where the archbishop resided. Longley was in poor health: Benham acted as his private secretary during the period of the first
Lambeth Conference
The Lambeth Conference is a decennial assembly of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place at Lambeth in 1867.
As the Anglican Communion is an international association ...
in 1867, and was with him at his death in 1868. Longley's successor
Archibald Campbell Tait
Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England.
Life
Tait was bo ...
gave him the
Lambeth degree
A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...
of B.D., made him one of the
six preachers
The college of Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral was created by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer as part of the reorganisation of the monastic Christ Church Priory into the new secular Cathedral.
First mentioned in a letter of Cranmer to Thomas Crom ...
of Canterbury, and in 1872 gave him the vicarage of
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
.
In Margate Benham restored the parish church, and was chairman of the first school board of the town. In 1880 Tait made him vicar of
Marden and in 1882 he was appointed rector of
St. Edmund the King with
St. Nicholas Acons
St Nicholas Acons was a parish church in the City of London. In existence by the late 11th century, it was destroyed during the Great Fire of London of 1666 and not rebuilt.
History
The church was situated on the west side of Nicholas Lane in ...
, Lombard Street, a post he held for life. In 1888 Archbishop
Edward White Benson made him honorary canon of Canterbury, and in 1898
Hartford University, U.S.A., granted him the degree of D.D. He was
Boyle lecturer
The Boyle Lectures are named after Robert Boyle, a prominent natural philosopher of the 17th century and son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork. Under the terms of his Will, Robert Boyle endowed a series of lectures or sermons (originally eight e ...
in 1897, and
rural dean
In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...
of East City from 1903 till his death.
Death
Benham died of heart failure on 30 July 1910, and was buried at Addington.
Work
Benham was a prolific writer. The ''Life of Archbishop Tait'' (1891), with
Randall Davidson, was the major work of his later life. He also edited the memoirs of Catherine and Craufurd Tait, the wife and son of the archbishop (1879; abridged edit. 1882). His other main works were:
* ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew … with Notes'', 1862.
* ''The Epistles for the Christian Year with Notes'', 1865.
* ''The Church of the Patriarchs'', 1867.
* ''A Short History of the Episcopal Church in the United States'', 1884.
* ''Winchester'' (in "Diocesan Histories" series), 1884.
* ''Sermons for the Church's Year, Original and Selected'', 2 vols. 1883–4.
* ''The Dictionary of Religion: An Encyclopædia of Christian and Other Religious Doctrines, ... Terms, History, Biography'', 1887; reissued 1891, begun by
John Henry Blunt.
* ''Winchester Cathedral'', 1893; illustrated, 1897.
* ''Rochester Cathedral'', 1900 (both of these in "English Cathedrals" series).
* ''Mediæval London'', 1901 and 1911, with
Charles Welch
Charles Henry Welch (called C. H. Welch) (1880–1967) was a Christian dispensational theologian, writer and speaker.
During his lifetime he produced over 60 books, booklets and pamphlets, and more than 500 audio recordings. His most significa ...
.
* ''Old St. Paul's Cathedral'', 1902.
* ''The Tower of London'', 1906 (all three of these in the "Portfolio Monographs").
* ''St. John and His Work'' ("Temple" series of Bible handbooks), 1904.
* ''Old London Churches'', 1908.
* ''Letters of Peter Lombard'', 1911, posthumous, with a preface by Randall Davidson. Benham had written miscellaneous paragraphs in the ''
Church Times
The ''Church Times'' is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper based in London and published in the United Kingdom on Fridays.
History
The ''Church Times'' was founded on 7 February 1863 by George Josiah Palmer, a printer. It fought for the ...
'' headed "Varia", and signed "Peter Lombard".
Benham produced an edition of
William Cowper
William Cowper ( ; 26 November 1731 – 25 April 1800) was an English poet and Anglican hymnwriter. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th-century nature poetry by writing of everyday life and sce ...
's poetry in 1870; published in 1873 a ''Companion to the Lectionary'' (new edition 1884); and translated ''
The Imitation of Christ
''The Imitation of Christ'', by Thomas à Kempis, is a Christian devotional book first composed in Medieval Latin as ''De Imitatione Christi'' ( 1418–1427).''An introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious studies'', by Orlando O. Espà ...
'' (1874; new ed. 1905). He edited the reprint series ''Ancient and Modern Library of Theological Literature''. ''Lombard Street in Lent'' (1894), addresses by various preachers, presented the kind of sermon which he thought a City church should supply to attract businessmen in their lunch hour.
Family
Benham was twice married:
# to Louisa, daughter of Lewis Engelbach, by whom he had three daughters;
# to Caroline, daughter of Joseph Sandell of
Old Basing, Hampshire, who survived him.
Notes
;Attribution
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Benham, William
1831 births
1910 deaths
19th-century English Anglican priests
English male writers
People from the City of Winchester
Schoolteachers from Hampshire
Alumni of Plymouth Marjon University
Alumni of King's College London