William Tuckwell (1829–1919), who liked to be known as the "radical parson", was an English

Anglican clergyman The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. "Ministry" commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the ''threefold order'' of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglica ...

well known on political platforms for his experiments in allotments, his advocacy of land nationalisation, and his enthusiasm for Christian socialism. He was an advocate of teaching science in the schools.

Life

Tuckwell was born on 27 November 1829. He was the eldest son of Margaret, ''née'' Wood (1803/4–1842) and William Tuckwell (1784–1845), a surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford. Tuckwell was educated at a preparatory school in Hammersmith before attending

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of ...

from 1842 and New College, Oxford, in 1848. From 1857 to 1864 he was headmaster of New College School. In 1864 the Warden of New College, Oxford, nominated him as headmaster of Taunton Grammar School, later known as Taunton College School. It was recorded that his "energy and vitality" increased the size and quality of the school. In 1858 he married Rosa Strong (''b''. 1829/30), eldest daughter of Captain Henry Strong, an Indian army officer. Her younger sister was feminist and trade unionist Emilia Dilke. Rosa and William Tuckwell had four children, one son and three daughters. Their second daughter Gertrude Tuckwell (1861–1951) was a

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits (s ...

, social worker,

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

, and the first woman

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

appointed in London. William Tuckwell died on 1 February 1919. His daughter Gertrude was his executor.

The ''Reminiscences''

He is best remembered as the author of ''Reminiscences of Oxford'', which records the Oxford of the 1830s, but is somewhat misleading. Owen Chadwick records that he liked to "pretend to be much older than he was. ... What Tuckwell knew about were the fifties and sixties, and his portrait of Tractarian leaders is drawn from experiences in that later time; though quite often he likes to give the impression that it is much earlier."Owen Chadwick, ''The Spirit of the Oxford Movement: Tractarian Essays'', Cambridge University Press, 1992, p. 137.
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/ref> His daughter was Gertrude Tuckwell, to whom his ''Reminiscences of a Radical Parson'' was dedicated.

Christian socialism

Tuckwell became active in politics in February 1884, at the time of the great reform bill. His work among the poor had led him to enquire much about their conditions and lives. Over the next ten years he delivered more than a thousand speeches in support of Christian socialism and in favour of a redistribution of wealth and land.

Bibliography

* William Tuckwell, ''A. W. Kinglake: A Biographical and Literary Study'' * William Tuckwell, ''The Ancient Ways: Winchester 50 Years Ago'' * William Tuckwell, ''Horace'', 1905
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* William Tuckwell, ''Tongues in Trees and Sermons in Stones'', 1891
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* William Tuckwell, ''Reminiscences of a Radical Parson'', 1905
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* William Tuckwell, ''Reminiscences of Oxford'', London: Cassell, 1901, expanded 2nd ed. 1908.
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* William Tuckwell, ''Pre-tractarian Oxford: A Reminiscence of the Oriel 'Noetics * William Tuckwell, ''The New Utopia or England in 1985: A Lecture'', 1885. * William Tuckwell, ''Christian Socialism and Other Lectures'', 1891. * TUCKWELL, W. Science-Teaching in Schools. ''Nature'' 1, 18–20 (1869). https://doi.org/10.1038/001018d0

References

External links