William Budworth (1699 – September 1745) was a schoolmaster at Brewood in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. He taught several notable pupils, but he is most remembered for not employing

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

as an assistant at Brewood Grammar School.

Life and career

Budworth was born in about 1699 in

Marston on Dove Marston on Dove (historically Marston Upon Dove) is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire, south west of Derby and east of Tutbury. The Church of St Mary at Marston has the oldest bell in Derbyshire, which was cast in Leicester in 13 ...

, the son of the Reverend Luke Budworth BA,

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 ...

of Cubley and vicar of

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

, Derbyshire, and afterwards rector of the parishes of Tillesham and

Wellingham Wellingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 55 in 27 households at the 2001 census. At the 2011 Census the population remained less than 100 and was included in the ci ...

in Norfolk following the recommendation of Thomas Coke. He was educated at Derby School and the grammar school at Market Bosworth under Anthony Blackwall, and then at

Christ's College, Cambridge Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as ...

(BA 1720, MA 1726).Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century
By John Nichols, Samuel Bentley, p332, accessed 24 March 2008 Soon after graduating he was appointed master of

Rugeley Grammar School Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...

and he became the vicar of

Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish ...

in Derbyshire in 1731. In 1733, on the death of Dr. Hillman he became headmaster at Brewood Grammar School.Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, iii. 332-55, 759, vi. 469, 470
/ref> Shareshill 120237 0d90f4ac

He obtained the vicarage of Brewood on the presentation of the Dean of Lichfield, and he was presented to the donative chapel of Shareshill, near Brewood, by Sir Edward Littleton, 3rd Baronet, of Pillaton Hall, who entrusted to him the education of his cousin and heir Edward Littleton, his uncle Fisher's son. In 1736 he would have engaged the celebrated

as an assistant in the school, but he was apprehensive about the "strange motion of the head" which Johnson suffered from. Budworth thought this might make him an object of ridicule in the school. Johnson is thought to have been known to Budworth as Johnson had served as an usher to the headmaster at Market Bosworth whilst Budworth was still there. One of Budworth's pupils was Richard Hurd, afterwards

Bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, who says ''"be I possessed every talent of a perfect institutor of youth in a degree which I believe has been rarely found in any of that profession since the days of Quinctilian."'' Both Richard Hurd and Sir Edward Littleton were on their way to visit him in 1745 when they heard he had died in a "fit of apoplexy". Littleton paid for a memorial at his church in Shareshill.Staffordshire Encyclopedia
accessed 28 April 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Budworth, William 1699 births 1745 deaths People from South Derbyshire District People educated at Derby School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge 18th-century English Anglican priests People from South Staffordshire District People from Longford, Derbyshire