John Duncombe (29 September 1729 – 19 January 1786) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

clergyman and writer. He studied at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, where he became a fellow. He contributed to the ''

Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1922. It was the first to use the term ''magazine'' (from the French ''magazine'' ...

'' under the pseudonym Crito, was a well-known poet, and wrote in 1754 a celebration of British women poets, '' The Feminead''. He was married to the poet Susanna Duncombe (née Highmore).

Life

Duncombe was born in London on 29 September 1729, the only child of the author and playwright

William Duncombe William Duncombe (19 January 1690 – 26 February 1769) was a British author and playwright. Life Duncombe worked in the Navy Office from 1706 until 1725. That year, he and Elizabeth Hughes won a very large lottery sum on a joint ticket. He mar ...

and his wife Elizabeth Hughes. He was educated at two schools in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, before entering, on 1 July 1745,

, where he proceeded B.A. in 1748 and M.A. in 1752. He was later elected a fellow of his college, and in 1753 was ordained at Kew Chapel by John Thomas, the bishop of Peterborough. On the recommendation of Archbishop

Thomas Herring Thomas Herring (169323 March 1757) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1747 to 1757. Early life and education He was the son of John Herring, rector of Walsoken in Norfolk, who had previously been vicar of Foxton, near Cambridge, and his wife, ...

, he was appointed to the curacy of Sundridge 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 ...

. Duncombe subsequently became assistant-preacher at

St Anne's Church, Soho Saint Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne, created from part of the par ...

. He was in succession chaplain to

Samuel Squire Samuel Squire (1714 – 7 May 1766) was a Bishop of the Church of England and a historian. Early life Squire was the son of a druggist in Warminster, Wiltshire, and was first educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School. He matriculated at St ...

bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the St Davids, city of ...

, and to

John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork John Boyle, 5th Earl of Cork and 5th Earl of Orrery, FRS (13 January 1707 – 16 November 1762) was a writer and a friend of Jonathan Swift, Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson. The only son of Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery, and his wife Lady ...

. In 1757 Archbishop Herring, a friend, presented him to the united livings of St Andrew and St Mary Bredan, in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

. He was later made one of the

Six Preachers The college of Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral was created by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer as part of the reorganisation of the monastic Christ Church Priory into the new secular Cathedral. First mentioned in a letter of Cranmer to Thomas Crom ...

in the cathedral; and in 1773 obtained from Archbishop

Frederick Cornwallis Frederick Cornwallis (5 March 1713 – 19 March 1783) served as Archbishop of Canterbury, after an illustrious career in the Anglican Church. He was born the seventh son of an aristocratic family. His twin brother Edward Cornwallis had a milit ...

the living of Herne, near Canterbury. The archbishop also appointed him master of St John's Hospital, Canterbury, and gave him a chaplaincy, which enabled him to hold his two livings. Duncombe died at Canterbury on 19 January 1786 and was buried there.

Personal life

In 1761 Duncombe married Susanna Highmore, a childhood friend, and a poet and artist in her own right. She and an only daughter survived him.

Works

Among Duncombe's many poems, the best known were: * ''An Evening's Contemplation in a College'', a parody of

Thomas Gray Thomas Gray (26 December 1716 – 30 July 1771) was an English poet, letter-writer, classics, classical scholar, and professor at Pembroke College, Cambridge, Pembroke College, Cambridge. He is widely known for his ''Elegy Written in a Country ...

's '' Elegy in a Country Churchyard'' (1753) * '' The Feminead'' (1754) * ''Translations from Horace'' (1766–67). He wrote numerous occasional pieces, such as ''On a Lady sending the Author a Ribbon for his Watch''.For a full list see ''Gentleman's Magazine'', June 1786, pp. 451–2, and ''

Biographia Britannica ''Biographia Britannica'' was a multi-volume biographical compendium, "the most ambitious attempt in the latter half of the eighteenth century to document the lives of notable British men and women". The first edition, edited by William Oldys (169 ...

'' ed.

Andrew Kippis Andrew Kippis (28 March 17258 October 1795) was an English nonconformist clergyman and biographer. Life The son of Robert Kippis, a silk-hosier, he was born at Nottingham. Having gone to Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford, Lincolnshire he pass ...

, iv. 511. As an antiquarian, he wrote: * ''Historical Description of Canterbury Cathedral'', 1772 * A translation and abridgment of John Battely's ''Antiquities of Richborough and Reculver'' 1774 * ''History and Antiquities of Reculver and Herne'', and of the ''Three Archiepiscopal Hospitals at and near Canterbury'', contributed to John Nichols's ''Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica'', vols 1 and 4 (1780). He edited: * ''Letters from Italy'' of

, 1773–74 * ''Letters by several Eminent Persons deceased, including the Correspondence of J. Hughes, Esq.'', 1773 * ''Letters from the late Archbishop Herring to William Duncombe, Esq., deceased'', 1777 * ''Select Works of the Emperor Julian'', 1784 He also published several sermons.

References

External links

John Duncombe
at th
Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive (ECPA)
* ;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Duncombe, John 1729 births 1786 deaths English biographers 18th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge English male poets English male non-fiction writers Male biographers 18th-century Anglican theologians