Richard Hurd (bishop)

The Right Reverend

Richard Hurd
The Right Reverend; Richard Hurd
Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry and Worcester
	Bishop Hurd, as painted by Thomas Gainsborough.
Personal details
Born	1720; Congreve, Penkridge, Staffordshire
Died	28 May 1808 (aged 88); Hartlebury Castle, Worcestershire
Buried	Hartlebury churchyard
Denomination	Church of England
Parents	John Hurd (1685–1755) and Hannah Hurd (c. 1685–1773).
Alma mater	Emmanuel

Richard Hurd (13 January 1720 – 28 May 1808) was an English divine and writer, and bishop of Worcester.^[1]

Life

He was born at Congreve, in the parish of Penkridge, Staffordshire, where his father was a farmer. He was educated at Brewood Grammar School and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He took his B.A. degree in 1739, and in 1742 he proceeded M.A. and became a fellow of his college.^[2] In the same year he was ordained deacon, and given charge of the parish of Reymerston, Norfolk, but he returned to Cambridge early in 1743. He was ordained priest in 1744. In 1748 he published some Remarks on an Enquiry into the Rejection of Christian Miracles by the Heathens (1746), by William Weston, a fellow of St John's College, Cambridge.^[1]

He prepared editions, which won the praise of Edward Gibbon, of the Ars poetica and Epistola ad Pisones (1749), and the Epistola ad Augustum (1751) of Horace. A compliment in the preface to the edition of 1749 was the starting-point of a lasting friendship with William Warburton, through whose influence he was appointed one of the preachers at Whitehall in 1750. In 1765 he was appointed preacher at Lincoln's Inn, and in 1767 he became archdeacon of Gloucester.

In 1768, he proceeded D.D. at Cambridge, and delivered at Lincoln's Inn the first Warburton lectures, which were published later (1772) as An Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies concerning the Christian Church. He became bishop of Lichfield and Coventry in 1774, and two years later was selected to be tutor to the prince of Wales and the duke of York. In 1781 he was translated to the see of Worcester and made Clerk of the Closet, holding both positions until his death. He lived chiefly at Hartlebury Castle, where he built a fine library, to which he transferred Alexander Pope's and Warburton's books, purchased on the latter's death.

He was extremely popular at court, and in 1783, on the death of Archbishop Cornwallis, the king pressed him to accept the primacy, but Hurd, who was known, says Madame d'Arblay, as "The Beauty of Holiness," declined it as a charge not suited to his temper and talents, and much too heavy for him to sustain. He died, unmarried, on 28 May 1808. His memorial in Worcester Cathedral was sculpted by William Humphries Stephens.^[3]

He bequeathed his library to his successors as bishop, and it remains at Hartlebury Castle, but its fate remains uncertain, now that the castle has ceased to be used as the bishop's residence.^[4]

Works

Hurd's Letters on Chivalry and Romance (1762) retain a certain interest for their importance in the history of the romantic movement, which they did something to stimulate. They were written in continuation of a dialogue on the age of Queen Elizabeth included in his Moral and Political Dialogues (1759) Two later dialogues On the Uses of Foreign Travel were printed in 1763. Hurd wrote two acrimonious defences of Warburton On the Delicacy of Friendship (1755), in answer to John Jortin and a Letter (1764) to Dr Thomas Leland, who had criticised Warburton's Doctrine of Grace. He edited the Works of William Warburton, the Select Works (1772) of Abraham Cowley, and left materials for an edition (6 vols., 1811) of Addison. His own works appeared in a collected edition in 8 vols. 1811.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hurd, Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 958.
^ "Hurd, Richard (HRT733R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.373
^ The Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust Archived 12 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine
^ "Hurd R Bishop". Baz Manning. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2022.

External links

Church of England titles
Preceded by Brownlow North	Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry 1775–1781	Succeeded by Hon. James Cornwallis
Preceded by Brownlow North	Bishop of Worcester 1781–1808	Succeeded by Folliott Herbert Walker Cornewall

[e1911-1] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hurd, Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 958.

[2] "Hurd, Richard (HRT733R)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[3] Dictionary of British Sculptors 1660-1851 by Rupert Gunnis p.373

[4] The Hartlebury Castle Preservation Trust Archived 12 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine

[5] "Hurd R Bishop". Baz Manning. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 17 June 2022.

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v t e Bishops of Worcester
Early medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald Dunstan Oswald Ealdwulf
High medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard
Late medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli
Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper, Bishop of Worcester and Gloucester Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd
Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge

v t e Bishops of Lichfield (including precursor offices)
Mercia	Diuma Ceollach Trumhere Jaruman Chad, Bishop of the Mercians & the Lindisfaras
Lichfield	Winfrith Seaxwulf Headda Aldwine Witta Hemele Cuthfrith Berhthun Hygeberht (Archbishop of Lichfield) Ealdwulf Herewine Æthelwold Hunberght Cynefrith Tunberht Wulfsige Burgheard Eadberht Wulfred Wilferth Ælfwine Wulfgar Cynesige Wynsige Elphege Godwin Leofgar Brihtmær Wulfsige Leofwin Peter (became Bishop of Chester) Peter, Bishop of Chester
Coventry	Robert de Limesey, Bishop of Chester Robert de Limesey (previously Bishop of Chester) Robert Peche Roger de Clinton Walter Durdent Richard Peche Gerard la Pucelle Hugh Nonant Geoffrey de Muschamp William de Cornhill Alexander de Stavenby
Coventry & Lichfield	Alexander de Stavenby Hugh de Pateshull Roger Weseham Roger de Meyland Walter Langton Roger Northburgh Robert de Stretton Walter Skirlaw Richard le Scrope John Burghill John Catterick James Cary William Heyworth William Booth Nicholas Close Reginald Boulers John Hales William Smyth John Arundel Geoffrey Blythe Rowland Lee
Lichfield & Coventry	Rowland Lee Richard Sampson Ralph Baines Thomas Bentham William Overton George Abbot Richard Neile John Overall Thomas Morton Robert Wright Accepted Frewen Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) Accepted Frewen John Hacket Thomas Wood William Lloyd John Hough Edward Chandler Richard Smalbroke Frederick Cornwallis John Egerton Brownlow North Richard Hurd James Cornwallis Henry Ryder Samuel Butler
Lichfield	Samuel Butler James Bowstead John Lonsdale George Selwyn William Maclagan Augustus Legge John Kempthorne Edward Woods Stretton Reeve Kenneth Skelton Keith Sutton Jonathan Gledhill Clive Gregory (acting) Michael Ipgrave

v t e Clerks of the Closet
17th century	Richard Neile William Juxon Matthew Wren Richard Steward Gilbert Sheldon John Earle John Dolben Walter Blandford Nathaniel Crew Thomas Sprat Sir Edward Petre John Tillotson Thomas Burnet John Montagu
18th century	William Graham Samuel Pratt Charles Trimnell Richard Willis Henry Egerton Joseph Butler John Gilbert John Thomas William Buller Richard Hurd
19th century	William Jackson George Pelham Robert Carr Edward Stanley John Graham Henry Philpott Randall Davidson
Since 1900	William Boyd Carpenter Hubert Burge Thomas Strong Cyril Garbett Percy Herbert Roger Wilson Gordon Fallows John Bickersteth John Waine Jonathan Bailey Christopher Hill James Newcome Richard Jackson

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