Thomas Burgess

Thomas Burgess (18 November 175619 February 1837) was an English author, philosopher, Bishop of St Davids and Bishop of Salisbury, who was greatly influential in the development of the Church in Wales. He founded St David's College, Lampeter, was a founding member of the Odiham Agricultural Society, helped establish the Royal Veterinary College in London, and was the first president of the Royal Society of Literature. Life Thomas Burgess was born at Odiham in Hampshire, youngest son of William Burgess (1720/21-1787) and his wife Elizabeth née Harding (1729/30-1797), grocers. He was educated at Robert May's School in Odiham, at Winchester College, and at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Scholar 1775, B.A. 1778, M.A. 1782). He was a precocious scholar. Before graduating, he edited a reprint of John Burton's Pentalogia, and in 1781 he brought out an annotated edition of Richard Dawes' Miscellanea Critica (reprinted, Leipzig, 1800). In 1783 he became a fellow of his college, and in 1784 he was ordained deacon and priest. In 1785 Burgess was appointed examining and domestic chaplain to Shute Barrington, bishop of Salisbury. In that capacity Burgess wrote The Salisbury Spelling Book, an introductory manual for teaching reading and writing, which became highly popular in Sunday school classes throughout the country; the first edition (1785) was followed rapidly by further editions. From 1787 to 1803 he held the prebend of Wilsford and Woodford in Salisbury cathedral, resigning on his appointment as bishop of St Davids. In 1788 Burgess published his Considerations on the Abolition of Slavery, in which he advocated the principle of gradual emancipation. When Barrington was appointed bishop of Durham in 1791, Burgess moved to Durham with Barrington. From 1791 until 1825 he held a prebendal stall at Durham: holding in turn the 9th (1791–92), 6th (1792–1820) and 2nd (1820–1825) stalls. At Durham he carried out evangelistic work among the poorer classes. A pen portrait of the Durham prebendaries in 1831 describes Burgess as 'silent in company, learned and intelligible in the pulpit ; addressing the understanding in sound and classical language, informing the ignorant as the sun dispels the darkness of night.' In June 1803 his old friend Henry Addington, then prime minister, appointed Burgess bishop of St Davids, by far the largest of the Welsh sees. He held the see for over twenty years, retaining his prebendal stall in Durham.