Charles Thorp, (13 October 1783 – 10 October 1862) was an English churchman, rector of the parish of Ryton and, later,

Archdeacon of Durham The Archdeacon of Durham is a senior ecclesiastical officer of the diocese of Durham (Church of England). They have, within the geographical area the ''archdeaconry of Durham'', pastoral oversight of clergy and care of church buildings (among other ...

and the first warden of the

University of Durham , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

Life

He was born in

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Millennium Bridge, The Sage, and the Baltic Centre for Contemporary ...

, County Durham, the son of Robert Thorp,

Archdeacon of Northumberland The Archdeacon of Northumberland is a senior ecclesiastical officer within the Diocese of Newcastle. As such she or he is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy within the geographical area of the archdeaconry. History The firs ...

, and educated at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle and Durham School. In 1799, he entered

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

and then

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

where he graduated BA (1803) and MA (1806). He became a Fellow and Tutor at University College, Oxford, in 1806, deacon in 1806 and priest in 1807. He then became rector of Ryton in 1811, joining a prestigious group with previous rectors including Thomas Secker, later

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

. After his time as rector of Holy Cross Church, Ryton, he became Canon (1829) and then

in 1831 and, a year later, became the first warden of the University of Durham. Thorp remained heavily involved with the university, also being the first

master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

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. This was a position he held until his death in Durham in 1862. He was buried at Ryton Church. He had married twice.

Achievements

Charles Thorp's life was remarkable for a number of notable achievements: Regarding education for all as necessary and empowering, he was a prime mover in introducing free education to Ryton. A committed anti-slavery campaigner, he worked with the Church Missionary Society to set up a university in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to ensure that freed slaves had access to education. An environmentalist well ahead of his time, he planted Ryton's churchyard with oak, sweet chestnut and beech trees, now in their maturity. In a similar far sighted move, he arranged for his family to buy the Farne Islands, employing a wildlife warden to protect threatened bird species. As an innovator in alleviating poverty, he set up this country's first 'penny bank', in Ryton, allowing those with small incomes to borrow at rates they could afford. He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...

in May 1839. His name was chosen as the identity of a secondary school in West Gateshead in 2011, Charles Thorp Comprehensive School (now

Thorp Academy Thorp Academy is a large 11–18 secondary Academy in Ryton Tyne & Wear, England. The academy was established in the 19th century by Charles Thorp who went on to found Durham University. The site that Thorp Academy now stands on is the site of ...

), following the amalgamation of Hookergate School and Ryton Comprehensive School, on the site of the school he sponsored in his lifetime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorp, Charles 1784 births 1862 deaths People from Gateshead Archdeacons of Durham Vice-Chancellors and Wardens of Durham University Fellows of the Royal Society Surtees Society