Francis Ayscough (1701–1763) was a tutor to

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

and Clerk of the Closet to his father

Frederick, Prince of Wales Frederick, Prince of Wales, (Frederick Louis, ; 31 January 170731 March 1751), was the eldest son and heir apparent of King George II of Great Britain. He grew estranged from his parents, King George and Queen Caroline. Frederick was the fa ...

Leicester Square, North Side, and Lisle Street Area: Leicester Estate: Lisle Street'
Survey of London: volumes 33 and 34: St Anne Soho (1966), pp. 472–476. Date accessed: 10 June 2009. and later Dean of Bristol Cathedral.

Biography

Francis was born in the English county of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

on 19 December 1701 and baptised on 25 December in

St Olave's Church, Southwark St Olave's Church, Southwark was a church in Southwark, England which is believed to be mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. It was located on Tooley Street which is named after the church, i.e. 't'olous'. It became redundant in 1926 and was d ...

; he had his early education in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon (now

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

). He applied to be a fellow at the University of Oxford after serving two years at Corpus Christi. Although initially rejected he was admitted after the intercession of the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' (except ...

, Richard Willis, who threatened to sack all of those involved if Ayscough was not appointed in 15 minutes."Memoirs of a royal chaplain, 1729–1763
the correspondence of Edmund Pyle, D.D. chaplain in ordinary to George II, with Samuel Kerrich D.D., vicar of Dersingham, rector of Wolferton, and rector of West Newton". Retrieved June 2009 He was appointed as the first tutor to George who was to be the future King

of Great Britain. Reportedly Ayscough was appointed by the intercession of Sir George Lyttlelton, who had some influence with George's father. Ayscough had married Anne Lyttleton who was George's sister. In 1735 it was Ayscough as Chaplain to the Prince of Wales who was called on to give a sermon to the House of Commons to commemorate the "martyrdom of Charles I". The boy's father retained Francis' services, but in 1749 he made a further appointment of an assistant to Ayscough. The new assistant, Lewis Scott, was a mathematician and a member of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

and it was through him that George III became the first British monarch to have a scientific education. On the death of Frederick in 1751 Ayscough and North were both replaced by the Whig politicians. Ayscough was replaced by the

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in t ...

Thomas Hayter Thomas Hayter (1702 – 9 January 1762) was an English whig divine, who served as a Church of England bishop for 13 years, and was a royal chaplain. As a party advocate of the Pelhamites and a friend of the Duke of Newcastle, he was at the height ...

. In 1754 he officiated at the wedding of William Pitt and Hester Grenville. In 1755 he had a sermon published on the wrongs of "self murder". In 1756, Ayscough became the Canon (of 12th prebend) for

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

, 1756–1763, Ayscough was also appointed to be the Dean of Bristol in 1761, a post that he also held until his deathFastis Ecclesiea Anglicane
Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved June 2009'Houses of Augustinian canons: The abbey of St Augustine, Bristol', A History of the County of Gloucester: Volume 2 (1907), pp. 75–79. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=40273 Date accessed: 11 June 2009 which took place in Bristol on 16 August 1763; he was buried in Bristol Cathedral three days later. Anne, his wife, outlived him and died in their house in London in 1776 aged 64. Ayscough's children included Anne Augusta who became Lady Cockburn, and George Edward Ayscough who was a Guards officer and sometime dramatist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayscough, Francis Clerks of the Closet Deans of Bristol 1701 births 1763 deaths People from Winchester People educated at Abingdon School

Biography

See also

References