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George Whitaker (educator)
Encyclopedia
George Whitaker was an English
-Canadian
clergyman and educator.
farming family in Bratton, Wiltshire
, England
, he received his early education at Frome
Grammar School and Charterhouse School
. He matriculated at Queens' College
, Cambridge
, in 1829 and graduated BA
in 1833 and MA in 1836. In the course of his early academic life he became a member of the Church of England
and was baptized at Bratton Parish Church in 1832. This came at the beginning of the Cambridge academic year in which he would need to subscribe to the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles
in order to take his degree.
In 1840 he was appointed Vicar of Oakington
, Cambridgeshire
, a living in the gift of his college.
He served as the first provost and professor of divinity of the University of Trinity College
, now part of the University of Toronto
, from its opening in 1852 (when it had just thirty students) until his retirement in 1881. From 1875 he was also Archdeacon of York, Toronto.
After ending his career in Toronto, Whitaker retired to his home county of Wiltshire as Rector of Newton Toney, near Salisbury
, England. He died in August 1882 and was buried at Newton Toney.
and Edward in London
. On 22 October 1844, at Bath, Somerset, George Whitaker married Arundel Charlotte Burton, the daughter of the Rev. Richard Burton, born in Sumatra
, where her father had been a Baptist missionary, and brought up in Somerset
in the west of England. George and Arundel Whitaker had at least eight children.
An eighteenth-century member of the same Whitaker family of Bratton was Jeffery Whitaker, a local schoolmaster who left a diary for the years 1739-1741 which was published by the Wiltshire Record Society in 1993.
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England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
-Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
clergyman and educator.
Early life
Born into a BaptistBaptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
farming family in Bratton, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, he received his early education at Frome
Frome
Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...
Grammar School and Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School
Charterhouse School, originally The Hospital of King James and Thomas Sutton in Charterhouse, or more simply Charterhouse or House, is an English collegiate independent boarding school situated at Godalming in Surrey.Founded by Thomas Sutton in London in 1611 on the site of the old Carthusian...
. He matriculated at Queens' College
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...
, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, in 1829 and graduated BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1833 and MA in 1836. In the course of his early academic life he became a member of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and was baptized at Bratton Parish Church in 1832. This came at the beginning of the Cambridge academic year in which he would need to subscribe to the Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...
in order to take his degree.
Career
Whitaker was elected a foundation fellow of his college in 1834 and the next year became a university lecturer in classics. He was ordained a deacon on June 4, 1837. He took the orders of a priest on 27 May the following year.In 1840 he was appointed Vicar of Oakington
Oakington
Oakington is a small village 4 miles north-west of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire in England, and belongs to the administrative district of South Cambridgeshire. The village falls into the parish of Oakington and Westwick.-History:...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
, a living in the gift of his college.
He served as the first provost and professor of divinity of the University of Trinity College
University of Trinity College
The University of Trinity College, informally referred to as Trin, is a college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1851 by Bishop John Strachan. Trinity was intended by Strachan as a college of strong Anglican alignment, after the University of Toronto severed its ties with the Church of...
, now part of the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
, from its opening in 1852 (when it had just thirty students) until his retirement in 1881. From 1875 he was also Archdeacon of York, Toronto.
After ending his career in Toronto, Whitaker retired to his home county of Wiltshire as Rector of Newton Toney, near Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
, England. He died in August 1882 and was buried at Newton Toney.
Family
Whitaker was the eighth child of Philip Whitaker, a farmer of Bratton, Wiltshire, and his wife Anne Andrews. Two of the couple's older sons, Alfred and Edward, became solicitors, Alfred at FromeFrome
Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...
and Edward in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. On 22 October 1844, at Bath, Somerset, George Whitaker married Arundel Charlotte Burton, the daughter of the Rev. Richard Burton, born in Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, where her father had been a Baptist missionary, and brought up in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
in the west of England. George and Arundel Whitaker had at least eight children.
An eighteenth-century member of the same Whitaker family of Bratton was Jeffery Whitaker, a local schoolmaster who left a diary for the years 1739-1741 which was published by the Wiltshire Record Society in 1993.
Publications
- Two letters to the lord bishop of Toronto, in reply to charges brought by the lord bishop of Huron against the theological teaching of Trinity College, Toronto (Toronto, 1860)
- St John the Baptist, an exemplar to Christian ministers: a sermon preached in the chapel of Trinity College, Toronto, on Sunday, June 24, 1860 (Toronto, 1860)
- Soberness of mind; a sermon preached in the chapel of Trinity College, Toronto, on Sunday, June 25, 1865 (Toronto, 1865)
- The office of ritual in Christian worship: a sermon preached at St. George’s Church, St Catharines, on Wednesday, April 4, 1866 (Toronto, 1866)
- The duty of mutual toleration by parties within the church (in Dominion Churchman, Toronto, 11 & 25 July, 22 August, 19 September, 17 October, and 5 December 1878)
- Sermons preached in Toronto; for the most part in the chapel of Trinity College (London and Toronto, 1882)
External links
- Sermons preached in Toronto; for the most part in the chapel of Trinity College (1882) - online text available at the Canadian Libraries pages of archive.org
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