Richard Appleton MA (17 February 1849 – 1 March 1909) was an English scholar, clergyman of the Church of England, and the fourth

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 ...

Selwyn College, Cambridge Selwyn College, Cambridge (formally Selwyn College in the University of Cambridge) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1882 by the Selwyn Memorial Committee in memory of George Augustus Selwyn (18 ...

, 1907 – 1909. He was a fellow of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, and a parish priest before moving to Selwyn.

Early life

Appleton was born in Liverpool, the son of another Revd Richard Appleton and grandson, on his mother's side, of Canon John Patrick Eden, Rector of

Sedgefield Sedgefield is a market town and civil parish in County Durham, England. It had a population of 5,211 as at the 2011 census. It has the only operating racecourse in County Durham. History Roman A Roman 'ladder settlement' was discovered by C ...

, Durham. Appleton was from a background that was increasingly rare in producing Cambridge undergraduates in Victorian times; his father was not well off, a clergyman with a large family, and scholarships got him through

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

and Trinity College. At Trinity, he was Sixth Wrangler and won the Chancellor's Medal. He was awarded a second class degree in the Classical tripos.

Career

He was elected a Fellow of Trinity College when he graduated, but he did not undertake major research work. Instead, he was a lecturer in Mathematics, Theology and Hebrew in the days before teaching was expected to be specialised. He was Dean of Trinity College, 1884–91 and Tutor, 1885-94. He was ordained a priest in 1878 and Appleton went to become warden of Trinity College Mission and

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pre ...

of St George's Church, Camberwell, 1894-1903. He was then vicar of St Mary's Church,

Ware, Hertfordshire Ware is a town in Hertfordshire, England close to the county town of Hertford. It is also a civil parish in East Hertfordshire district. Location The town lies on the north–south A10 road which is partly shared with the east–west A414 (fo ...

and

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

, 1904-7. Appleton had limited previous connection with Selwyn College when he was chosen as its Master, but he became an influential master of the college through various construction projects he oversaw. The college had been founded around 1880 to counter some of the effects of the "Revolution of the Dons" that occurred in the 1860s. The university was opened up to people of any religion and none, so the college was to be a haven for Anglicans. Every Master of Selwyn College was a clergyman up until 1983. As a clergyman and Master of Selwyn, Appleton was something of a throwback to the old pattern of Cambridge academic life prior to the "Revolution of the Dons".

Legacy

After serving as Master of Selwyn College for just two years, he died from influenza. His body is buried in the

Ascension Parish Burial Ground, Cambridge The Ascension Parish Burial Ground, formerly known as the burial ground for the parish of St Giles and St Peter's, is a cemetery off Huntingdon Road in Cambridge, England. Many notable University of Cambridge academics are buried there, inc ...

. A memorial brass is in the ante-chapel of

Trinity College Chapel, Cambridge Trinity College Chapel is the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge, a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Part of a complex of Grade I listed buildings at Trinity, it dates from the mid 16th century. It is an Anglican church in t ...

. Appleton left a permanent memorial of his mastership in raising the funds to build the southern range of buildings in the Old Court, including the College Hall, and Combination room. His initials and

rebus A rebus () is a puzzle device that combines the use of illustrated pictures with individual letters to depict words or phrases. For example: the word "been" might be depicted by a rebus showing an illustrated bumblebee next to a plus sign (+ ...

of an apple and a

tun TUN or tun may refer to: Biology * Tun shells, large sea snails of the family ''Tonnidae'' * Tun, a tardigrade in its cryptobiotic state * Tun or Toon, common name for trees of the genus '' Toona'' Places * Tun, Sweden, a locality in Västra G ...

, are carved on the front of the Hall stairway.

External links

References

* APPLETON, Rev. Richard, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 200
accessed 6 March 2013
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Appleton, Richard 1849 births 1909 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Masters of Selwyn College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge People educated at Christ's Hospital