George Thackeray

George Thackeray, DD, FLS (1777–1850) was a classical scholar and bibliophile, who served as Provost of King's College Cambridge from 1814 until his death. He was born in Windsor and baptised in the parish church there on 23rd November 1777. His parents were Frederick Thackeray, a physician, and Elizabeth, née Aldridge. Frederick Rennell Thackeray was one of his brothers, and the novelist William Makepeace Thackeray a cousin. He died at his house in Wimpole Street, London on 21st October 1850, having been ill for some years. He is buried in King's College Chapel. Education and career George Thackeray entered Eton as a King's Scholar in 1792, and became a scholar of King's College Cambridge in 1796, being elected as a fellow in 1800. In 1801 he was appointed as an assistant master at Eton. He received the Cambridge degrees of BA in 1802, MA in 1805, and BD in 1813. He left his post at Eton to become Provost of the King's College on 4th April 1814; on his election to the Provostship he was awarded the degree of DD by royal mandate, as was then customary when a Cambridge graduate attained a post of distinction. As Provost he oversaw major building developments at the college, including the current college library building. He was elected as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1814 and again in 1830. Although described in his obituary in the Times as a "most erudite classic" who was said to have greatly improved the university's courses and examinations in his subject, he does not appear to have published anything as an author or editor. Thackeray was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon on 13th June 1802, and as a priest on 5th June 1803. Both ordinations took place in the Windsor parish church. He held the appointment of chaplain in ordinary to George III, George IV, William IV, and Queen Victoria.