Editing Charles James Blomfield

{{Short description|British divine and classicist}}
{{For|other people named Charles Blomfield|Charles Blomfield (disambiguation){{!}}Charles Blomfield}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|RRevd|&RHPC}}
| name = Charles James Blomfield
| title = [[Bishop of London]]
| image = Charles James Blomfield by Lawrence (follower).jpg
| church = [[Church of England]]
| diocese = [[Diocese of London|London]]
| elected = 1828
| ended = 1856 (ill health)
| predecessor = [[William Howley]]
| successor = [[Archibald Campbell Tait]]
| other_post = [[Bishop of Chester]]<br />1824–1828
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination = 1810
| consecration = c.&nbsp;1824
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_date = {{birth date|1786|5|29|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Bury St Edmunds]], [[Suffolk]], [[Great Britain]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1857|8|5|1786|5|29|df=y}}
| buried = [[All Saints Church, Fulham]]
| nationality = [[British people|British]]
| religion = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| residence = [[Fulham Palace]], [[London]]
| children = 17 (& 1 stepson), including:<br />
{{Plainlist|
* [[Arthur Blomfield]]
* [[Lucy Elizabeth Bather]]
* [[Alfred Blomfield]]}}
| education = [[King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]
}}
[[File:Charles James Blomfield Escutcheon.png|thumb|Arms: Quarterly per fess indented Or and Azure a bend Gules.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cheshire-heraldry.org.uk/bishops/ |title=The Armorial Bearings of the Bishops of Chester |publisher=Cheshire Heraldry Society |access-date=10 February 2021}}</ref>]]
'''Charles James Blomfield''' (29 May 1786 – 5 August 1857) was a [[British people|British]] [[Anglicanism#Anglican divines|divine]] and [[classicist]], and a [[Church of England]] bishop for 32 years.

==Early life and education==
Charles James Blomfield was born in [[Bury St Edmunds]], [[Suffolk]], the eldest son (and one of ten children) of Charles Blomfield (1763–1831), a schoolmaster (as was Charles James's grandfather, James Blomfield), JP and chief [[alderman]] of Bury St Edmunds, and his wife, Hester (1765–1844), daughter of Edward Pawsey, a Bury grocer.  He was therefore unusual in becoming a Bishop of London not from an ecclesiastical, aristocratic or landowning background. His brother was [[Edward Valentine Blomfield]], a [[classical scholar]].

He was educated at the [[King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds|grammar school at Bury St Edmunds]], declining a scholarship to [[Eton College]] after a brief stay there.<ref>{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Malcolm|title=Bustling Intermeddler? The Life and Work of Charles James Blomfield|publisher=Gracewing Publishing|date=2001|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xLAX1Pb1bhwC&pg=PA16|isbn=0852445466}}</ref>

Blomfield matriculated at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] in 1804. At Cambridge, he was tutored by [[John Hudson (mathematician)|John Hudson]], mathematician and clergyman. Blomfield won the [[Browne Medal|Browne medals]] for Latin and Greek odes, and the Craven scholarship.<ref name="AB">{{cite book |last1=Blomfield   |first1=Alfred |title= Memoirs of Charles James Blomfield, D. D., Bishop of London, with Selections from his Correspondence |url=http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009668696|year=1863|publisher=John Murray }}</ref><ref name="venn">{{acad|id=BLMT803CJ|name=Blomfield, Charles James}}</ref> He graduated [[Bachelor of Arts|B.A.]] ([[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|3rd wrangler]] and 1st Chancellor's medal in classics) in 1808, [[Master of Arts (Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin)|M.A.]] in 1811, [[Bachelor of Divinity|B.D.]] in 1818, [[Doctor of Divinity|D.D.]] (''[[per literas regias|per lit. reg.]]'') in 1820.<ref name="venn"/>

==Career==
Blomfield was elected to a fellowship at Trinity College in 1809.<ref name="AB"/>{{sfn|Wroth|1886}} The first-fruits of his scholarship was an edition of the ''[[Prometheia|Prometheus]]'' of [[Aeschylus]] in 1810; this was followed by editions of the ''[[Septem contra Thebas]]'', ''[[Persae]]'', ''[[Choephori]]'', and ''[[Agamemnon (play)|Agamemnon]]'', of [[Callimachus]], and of the fragments of [[Sappho]], [[Sophron]] and [[Alcaeus of Mytilene|Alcaeus]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name="AB"/>

Blomfield, however, soon ceased to devote himself entirely to scholarship. Ordained deacon in March 1810 and priest in June 1810,<ref name="venn"/> he held a curacy at [[Great Chesterford|Chesterford]], then the following livings:<ref name="venn"/><ref>{{CCEd |type=person|id=8145|name=Blomfield, Charles James|title=Bishop of London|accessed=5 June 2019}}</ref>
*Rector of [[Quarrington, Lincolnshire]] (1810–20)
*Rector of [[Dunton, Buckinghamshire]] (1811–17)
*Rector of [[Tuddenham]], Suffolk (1817–20)
*Vicar and Rector of [[Little Chesterford]], Essex (1817–24)
*Rector of [[St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate]], London (1820–28)

Whilst at Dunton he educated George Spencer (later [[Ignatius Spencer]]), and they corresponded for several years after. In 1817 he was appointed private chaplain to [[William Howley]], [[Bishop of London]].  In 1819 he was nominated to the rich living of [[St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate]], and in 1822 he became [[Archdeacon of Colchester]].  Two years later he was raised to the bishopric as [[Bishop of Chester]] where he carried through many much-needed reforms.{{sfn|Wroth|1886}}{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref name="AB"/>

In 1828, he was appointed a [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Counsellor]]<ref name="venn"/> and translated becoming [[Bishop of London]], a post which he held for twenty-eight years making him the third longest-serving post reformation incumbent.  He was also the youngest known Bishop of London – his five youngest children were born in Fulham Palace – and his energy and zeal did much to extend the influence of the church.  He was one of the best debaters in the [[House of Lords]] (members of the Upper House of the Canterbury Convocation confessed to trimming their quill pens before his arrival!), took a leading position in the action for church reform which culminated in the ecclesiastical commission, and did much for the extension of the colonial episcopate; and his genial and kindly nature made him an invaluable mediator in the controversies arising out of the [[tractarian]] movement.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In 1840 he officiated at the marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Between 1833 and 1841 he consecrated four of the [[Magnificent Seven cemeteries]] of London. He also made a number of changes at [[Fulham Palace]], including planting a great number of trees which remain today.{{sfn|Wroth|1886}}  
[[Image:CharlesJamesBlomfieldMonument01.jpg|thumb|Funerary monument, All Saints, Fulham, London.]]

==Later life==
[[File:Bishop Blomfield effigy, St Paul's.jpg|thumb|Blomfield's memorial in St Paul's Cathedral]]
In 1856 he was permitted to resign his bishopric due to ill health, retaining [[Fulham Palace]] as his residence, with a pension of £6,000 per annum.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Blomfield is buried in the churchyard of [[All Saints Church, Fulham]], London and a memorial to him, by [[George Richmond (painter)|George Richmond]], can be seen at [[Saint Paul's Cathedral]] along the south wall of the [[ambulatory]].<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" [[William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London)|Sinclair, W.]] p. 464: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909.</ref> His grave has long-since had the surrounding railings removed. [[Blomfield Road]] in [[Maida Vale]] is named after him. <ref>Bolitho, Hector and Peel, Derek. ''Without the City Wall: An Adventure in London Street-names, North of the River''. Murray, 1952. p.150</ref>

==Published works==
His published works, exclusive of those above mentioned, consist of charges, sermons, lectures and pamphlets, and of a ''Manual of Private and Family Prayers''. He was a frequent contributor to the quarterly reviews, chiefly on classical subjects.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Personal life==
Blomfield  married Anna Maria Heath on 6 November 1810 at [[Hemblington]], Norfolk and they had six children: 
*Anna Maria Blomfield (1811–1812)
*Charles James Blomfield (1813–1813)
*Maria Blomfield (1814–1884)
*Charles William Blomfield (1815–1815)
*Edward Thomas Blomfield (1816–1822)
*Charles James Blomfield (1818–1818)
Anna Maria died on 16 February 1818 aged 33 at [[Hildersham]], Cambridgeshire.

Blomfield then married Dorothy (née Cox, widow of Thomas Kent of Hildersham, Cambridgeshire) on 17 December 1819 at [[St George's, Hanover Square|St George, Hanover Square]], London, and they had eleven children: 
*Charles James Blomfield (1820–1822)
*Mary Frances Blomfield (1821–1869)
*Frederick George "Fred" Blomfield (1823–1879), rector
*Isabella "Isy" Blomfield (1824–1879), who married her cousin [[George John Blomfield]], vicar of [[Holy Trinity Church, Dartford]], and rector of [[Aldington, Kent]]
*Henry John Blomfield (1825–1900), Royal Navy
*Francis "Frank" Blomfield (1827–1860), drowned in the [[SS Northerner]] steamer disaster off the Californian coast
*[[Arthur William Blomfield]] (1829–1899), architect
*[[Lucy Elizabeth Bather|Lucy Elizabeth Blomfield]] (1830–1864),<ref>{{ws|[[s:Bather, Lucy Elizabeth (DNB00)|''Dictionary of National Biography'']]|ps=no}} has 1836 for Lucy's date of birth</ref> children's author "Aunt Lucy"
*Charles James Blomfield (1831–1915), emigrated to Canada in 1858
*[[Alfred Blomfield]] (1833–1894), bishop of Colchester
*Dorothy Hester "Dora" Blomfield (1836–1886)

Dorothy also had one son from her first marriage, Thomas Fassett Kent (1817–1871), barrister (he was father of the poet Armine Thomas Kent).

The Blomfield household was larger than any other family of a Bishop of London, with eleven surviving children living in the palace. He had 49 grandchildren and another six step-grandchildren, including the army officer [[Charles James Blomfield (Indian Army officer)|Major-General Charles James Blomfield]] (1855−1928), the architect Sir [[Reginald Blomfield]] (1856–1942), the poet and hymn writer [[Dorothy Gurney]] (née Blomfield) (1858–1932) and the palaeontologist, geologist and malacologist [[Francis Arthur Bather]] (1863–1934). A great grandchild was the civil servant Sir [[Wolseley Haig|Thomas Wolseley Haig]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Alfred Blomfield (editor), ''Memoirs of Charles James Blomfield, D. D., Bishop of London, with Selections from his Correspondence'', (1863)
*[[George Edward Biber]], ''Bishop Blomfield and his Times'' (1857).

==External links==
{{Commons category|Charles James Blomfield}}
* [http://anglicanhistory.org/england/cjblomfield Bibliographic directory] from [[Project Canterbury]]
*[http://archives.lambethpalacelibrary.org.uk/calmview/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=fp/blomfield Bishop Blomfield's papers are deposited at Lambeth Palace Library]

===Attribution===
*{{DNB|first=Warwick William |last=Wroth |wstitle=Blomfield, Charles James |volume=5 |pages=229–230}}
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Blomfield, Charles James|volume=4|page=76}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|en}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Joseph Jefferson (priest)|Joseph Jefferson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archdeacon of Colchester]]|years=1822–1824}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William Lyall (priest)|William Lyall]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[George Henry Law]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Chester]]|years=1824–1828}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Bird Sumner]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[William Howley]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of London]]|years=1828–1856}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Archibald Campbell Tait]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Archdeacons of Colchester}}
{{Bishops of Chester}}
{{Bishops of London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blomfield, Charles James}}
[[Category:1786 births]]
[[Category:1857 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Colchester]]
[[Category:Bishops of Chester]]
[[Category:Bishops of London]]
[[Category:Blomfield family]]
[[Category:Burials at All Saints Church, Fulham]]
[[Category:Deans of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Members of the Canterbury Association]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds]]
[[Category:Clergy from Bury St Edmunds]]
[[Category:19th-century Church of England bishops]]
[[Category:18th-century Anglican theologians]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglican theologians]]
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