William Jacobson

English Anglican theologian and bishop (1803–1884)

For similarly named people, see William Jacobsen (disambiguation).

The Right Reverend

William Jacobson

Bishop of Chester

William Jacobson, photograph by Lewis Carroll, 1857.

Church| Church of England
Diocese| Diocese of Chester
In office| 1865–1884
Predecessor| John Graham
Successor| William Stubbs
Personal details
Born| (1803-07-18)18 July 1803

Great Yarmouth

Died| 13 July 1884(1884-07-13) (aged 80)
Deeside
Nationality| British
Denomination| Anglican
Alma mater| Homerton College, London
University of Glasgow
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Memorial to William Jacobson in Chester Cathedral Jacobson's shield of arms: Argent a chevron Gules between three trefoils slipped Sable on a chief also Sable an estoile Silver.[1]

William Jacobson (18 July 1803 - 13 July 1884) was Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford University (1848–1865) and Bishop of Chester (1865–1884).

## Life

[edit]

The son of William Jacobson, a merchant's clerk, of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, by his wife Judith, born Clarke, was born on 18 July 1803. His father died shortly after his birth, and his mother's second husband was a nonconformist. He was sent when about nine to a school at Norwich kept by Mr. Brewer, a baptist, the father of John Sherren Brewer. He went on to Homerton College, London, and in 1822–3 was a student at Glasgow University. On 3 May 1823, he was admitted commoner of St Edmund Hall, Oxford, being, it is said, befriended by Dawson Turner of Yarmouth, a member of the Society of Friends. He had little money. In May 1825, he was elected scholar of Lincoln College (B.A. in 1827), taking a second class in literæ humaniores.[2]

Failing to win a fellowship at Exeter College, Jacobson was a private tutor in Ireland until 1829. He then returned to Oxford, obtained the Ellerton theological prize, was elected fellow at Exeter on 30 June, and proceeded M.A. On 6 June 1830, he was ordained deacon, was appointed to the curacy of St Mary Magdalen, Oxford, and was ordained priest the following year. In 1832, he was appointed vice-principal of Magdalen Hall, where he did much to encourage industry and enforce discipline. With a view to preparing an edition of the Patres Apostolici, he went at this period to Florence, Rome, and elsewhere to consult manuscripts. In 1836 he was offered a mastership at Harrow School by Charles Longley, the head-master, afterwards archbishop of York; but Longley was that year made Bishop of Ripon, nothing came of it. He offered himself as Longley's successor at Harrow, but was not appointed.[2]

In 1839, Jacobson became perpetual curate of Iffley, near Oxford, was made public orator of the university in 1842, and was chosen select preacher in 1833, 1842, and 1863, but did not serve on the last occasion. By the advice of Lord John Russell, then prime minister, Jacobson was in 1848 promoted to the regius professorship of divinity at Oxford, which carried with it a canonry of Christ Church, Oxford and at that time also the rectory of Ewelme, Oxfordshire. In politics, he was a liberal, and he was chairman of William Gladstone's election committee at Oxford in 1865. On 23 June 1865, he accepted the offer of the see of Chester, and was consecrated on 8 July.[2]

In his charge at his primary visitation in October 1868 (published), Jacobson spoke on the duty of rubrical conformity. Although he had no liking for new ritual, he made it clearly understood that he would discountenance prosecutions for ritualism. His call to conformity gave offence to some low churchmen, and in the earlier years of his episcopate he was twice mobbed by Orangemen in Liverpool when on his way to consecrate churches intended for the performance of an ornate service. He promoted the division of his diocese made by the foundation of the bishopric of Liverpool in 1880.[2]

Failure of health caused Jacobson to resign his bishopric in February 1884; he was then in his eighty-first year. He died at the episcopal residence, Deeside, on Sunday morning, 13 July 1884.[3] His portrait, painted by Richmond, has been engraved.[2]

## Works

[edit]

Jacobson published:[2]

* an edition of Alexander Nowell's Catechismus, with a Life, 1835, 1844;
* an edition of the extant writings of the Patres Apostolici, as S. Clementis Romani, S. Ignatii ... quæ supersunt, &c., 2 vols. 1838, 1840, 1847, 1863, a relevant to the genuineness of the longer recension of the Ignatian epistles (see William Cureton);
* an edition of the Works of Robert Sanderson, 6 vols., 1854,

and a few shorter books, sermons, and charges. He also wrote annotations on the Acts of the Apostles for the Speaker's Commentary.[2]

## Family

[edit]

Jacobson married, on 23 June 1836, Eleanor Jane, youngest daughter of Dawson Turner. By his wife, who survived him, he had ten children, of whom three sons and two daughters survived him.[2] Their son was the surgeon W. H. A. Jacobson.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Armorial Bearings of the Bishops of Chester". Cheshire Heraldry Society. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Jacobson, William" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
3. ^ "DEATH OF DR JACOBSON". Derby Daily Telegraph. British Newspaper Archive. 14 July 1884.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Jacobson, William". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Academic offices

Preceded by

Renn Dickson Hampden

|  Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford
1848–1865  | Succeeded by

Robert Payne Smith

Church of England titles
Preceded by

John Graham

|  Bishop of Chester
1865–1884  | Succeeded by

William Stubbs

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Bishops of Chester

* John Bird
* George Cotes
* Cuthbert Scott
* William Downham
* William Chaderton
* Hugh Bellot
* Richard Vaughan
* George Lloyd
* Thomas Morton
* John Bridgeman
* Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth)
* Brian Walton
* Henry Ferne
* George Hall
* John Wilkins
* John Pearson
* Thomas Cartwright
* Nicholas Stratford
* Sir William Dawes
* Francis Gastrell
* Samuel Peploe
* Edmund Keene
* William Markham
* Beilby Porteus
* William Cleaver
* Henry Majendie
* Bowyer Sparke
* George Henry Law
* Charles James Blomfield
* John Bird Sumner
* John Graham
* William Jacobson
* William Stubbs
* Francis Jayne
* Luke Paget
* Geoffrey Fisher
* Douglas Crick
* Gerald Ellison
* Victor Whitsey
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