William Disney, D.D. (1731–1807) was an English clergyman and academic, and one of the critics of
Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
.
Life
Son of the Rev. Joseph Disney, M.A., vicar of
Cranbrook and
Appledore Appledore may refer to:
Places England
* Appledore, Kent
** Appledore (Kent) railway station
* Appledore, Mid Devon, near Tiverton
* Appledore, Torridge, North Devon, near Bideford U.S.A.
* Appledore Island, off the coast of Maine In fiction
* App ...
with the chapel of Ebony in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, was born 29 September 1731. He was educated at
Merchant Taylors' School under Mr. Creech, and entered as a pensioner at
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
on 26 January 1748. He graduated as B.A. in 1753 (when he was
senior wrangler
The Senior Frog Wrangler is the top mathematics undergraduate at the University of Cambridge in England, a position which has been described as "the greatest intellectual achievement attainable in Britain."
Specifically, it is the person who a ...
), M.A. 1756, and D.D. 1789. He was admitted minor fellow in 1754, major fellow in 1756, and third sub-lector in 1757.
From 1757 to 1771 he was
Regius Professor of Hebrew. In 1777 he became vicar of
Pluckley
Pluckley is a village and civil parish in the Ashford (borough), Ashford district of Kent, England. The civil parish includes the nucleated village, adjacent hamlet of Pluckley Thorne.
Geography
The landscape of the area itself is the edge of a ...
in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, a living in the gift of the Archbishop of Canterbury, where he died on 28 March 1807.
Family
On 9 January 1782, at the age of 50, he married Anna Maria Smyth, herself aged 45,
third daughter of John Smyth (1686-1746), a landowner at
Chart Sutton in
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, and his wife Elizabeth Whitfield (1711-1786). There were no children.
Works
He published two sermons:
*‘Sermon preached before the University of Cambridge, 28 June 1789, with some strictures on the licentious notions avowed or enumerated in Mr. Gibbon's “History of Rome,”’ Lond. 1709.
* ‘The Superiority of Religious Duties to Worldly Considerations,’ 1800.
Notes
References
*
Regius Professors of Hebrew (Cambridge)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Disney, William
1731 births
1807 deaths
18th-century English Anglican priests
Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge
Christian Hebraists
Academics of the University of Cambridge
People educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood
Senior Wranglers
People from Pluckley