William CoxeFRS (17 March [
O.S. 6 March] 1748 – 8 June 1828) was an English
historian and priest who served as a travelling companion and tutor to nobility from 1771 to 1786. He wrote numerous historical works and travel chronicles. Ordained a
deacon in 1771, he served as a rector and then archdeacon of
Bemerton near Salisbury from 1786 until his death.[1]
Biography
William Coxe was born on 17 March [
O.S. 6 March] 1748[2] in
Dover Street,
Piccadilly, London, the eldest son of William Coxe (c. 1710 – 1760), a
physician to the king's household, and his wife, Martha, daughter of Paul D'Aranda.[1] He was the older brother of the writer and poet Peter Coxe (c. 1753–1844),[1] who wrote the poem "Social Day". Following his father's death in 1760, his mother married
John Christopher Smith, who was
Handel's
amanuensis.
Educated at Marylebone Grammar School (1753–54) and then at
Eton College (1754–64), Coxe matriculated to
King's College, Cambridge at Easter 1765.[1] He received his BA in 1769, and his MA in 1772.[1] From 1768 to 1771, he was a fellow of King's College. Coxe was ordained a deacon in London on 21 December 1771 and a priest on 15 March 1772.[1]
Coxe travelled throughout Europe as a tutor and travelling companion to various noblemen and gentlemen,[3] including
Lord Herbert, son of
the Earl of Pembroke; and
Samuel Whitbread of the brewing family. He wrote prodigious and detailed accounts of his travels with Lord Herbert around the Swiss and French
Alps, which were subsequently published.[4]: 640
In 1786 he was appointed vicar of
Kingston upon Thames, and in 1788 rector of
Fugglestone St Peter-with-
Bemerton,
Wiltshire. He also held the rectory of
Stourton, Wiltshire from 1801 to 1811 and that of
Fovant from 1811 until his death. In 1791 he was made
prebendary of Salisbury, and in 1804
Archdeacon of Wilts until his death twenty-four years later at age 80.[3] He died on 8 June 1828 in
Bemerton, and was buried in the chancel of St Peter's Church at
Fugglestone St Peter. His library was sold from the rectory at Bemerton by London bookseller R. H. Evans, on 11 August 1828 (and four following days). A priced copy of the catalogue, containing many of Coxe's works, is at Cambridge University Library (shelfmark Munby.c.132(13)).
In 1803, Coxe married Eleanora, daughter of William Shairp, consul-general for Russia, and widow of Thomas Yeldham of
St Petersburg.[3]
Coxe's literary style featured a detached, unemotional, objective voice that, though typical of the historiography of his day, came to be seen as arch[5] and quaint[6] by later generations.
Works
In addition to his travel writing, during his long residence at Bemerton Coxe was mainly occupied in literary work.[3] His publications included:
Sketches of the Natural, Political and Civil State of Switzerland. London: J Dodsley. 1779.
Account of Russian Discoveries Between Asia and America. London: Thomas Cadell. 1780.
Account of Prisons and Hospitals in Russia, Sweden and Denmark. London. 1781.
Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden and Denmark. London: Thomas Cadell. 1784.
Mont Blanc and the Adjacent Alps. London: Thomas Cadell. 1789.
Travels in Switzerland. London: Printed for T. Cadell, In The Strand. 1789.
Letter on Secret Tribunals of Westphalia. Salisbury: J Easton. 1796.
The Life of John Gay. London: Salisbury J Easton. 1797.
Memoirs of the Life and Administration of Sir Robert Walpole, volumes 1-3. London: Cadell & Davies. 1798.
William Coxe, ed. (1798). Gay's Fables. London: J. Easton.
^Coxe, William (1777). Pinkerton, John (ed.).
Travels in Switzerland and in the Country of the Grisons 1777. A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages, Vol. 5 1809. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
^Michael Roberts, "The Naive Historian: an undelivered inaugural," Comment, Vol. XVIII (Winter 1995) ("[W]hen we read [the passage about the Turks sawing the archbishop, quoted in previous reference] we recognize and salute the judicial prose and well-regulated intellect of the Venerable Archdeacon Coxe.")