Sylvester Joseph Hunter
Encyclopedia
Sylvester Joseph Hunter was an English Jesuit and educator.
was a Unitarian minister, better known as an antiquarian writer and Shakespeare critic. In 1833 Joseph Hunter removed with his family from Bath to London to assume the function of Keeper of the Public Records, and in 1840 Sylvester Joseph Hunter entered St. Paul's School.
Having gained a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge
, he entered the university in 1848. Graduating B.A. in 1852, he was placed eighth wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos for that year. Soon after this he entered Lincoln's Inn
, London, as a law student.
In 1857 he was received into the Catholic Church by Canon Frederick Oakeley
. Within eight years of his graduation at Cambridge he had published two legal text-books ("The Suit in Equity" and "The Law of Trusteeships") which immediately attracted attention. His prospects at the chancery Bar were already assured when, in 1861, he decided to try his religious vocation in the Society of Jesus.
Entering the English Novitiate 7 September, 1861, he there passed through the regular biennium of probation, attended lectures in philosophy at St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, for one year, taught for two years at Stonyhurst College
, and thence passed on to his theological studies at St. Beuno's, where he was ordained priest in 1870.
He began to teach the higher classes at Stonyhurst. The requirements in physics and mathematics insisted upon by the University of London
at that time constituted an obstacle to Stonyhurst boys whose time had been almost monopolized by their Latin and Greek studies. Father Hunter's efforts to deal with this situation resulted in an increased number of Stonyhurst students mentioned in the London Honours List, as well as in two books which he compiled to assist others in the same branch of teaching.
His influence was widened when, in 1875, he took up the training of Jesuit scholastics who were to teach in the colleges of the English Province. It was after ten years of this work that he was appointed rector of St. Beuno's, where he wrote the Outlines of Dogmatic Theology (3 vols., 1st ed. London, 1894). Other spare moments were given to conducting the "Cases of Conscience" for the Diocese of Salford
. During the last five years of his life, passed at Stonyhurst, he began a Short History of England which was unfinished at his death.
Life
His father Joseph HunterJoseph Hunter (antiquarian)
Joseph Hunter was a Unitarian Minister and antiquarian best known for his publications Hallamshire. The History and Topography of the Parish of Sheffield in the County of York and the two-volume South Yorkshire , still considered among the best works written on the history of Sheffield and South...
was a Unitarian minister, better known as an antiquarian writer and Shakespeare critic. In 1833 Joseph Hunter removed with his family from Bath to London to assume the function of Keeper of the Public Records, and in 1840 Sylvester Joseph Hunter entered St. Paul's School.
Having gained a scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, he entered the university in 1848. Graduating B.A. in 1852, he was placed eighth wrangler in the Mathematical Tripos for that year. Soon after this he entered Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
, London, as a law student.
In 1857 he was received into the Catholic Church by Canon Frederick Oakeley
Frederick Oakeley
Frederick Oakeley was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England the sixth son of Sir Charles Oakeley, second baronet, and educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He was ordained in 1828 and in 1845 converted from Church of England to Catholicism, whereupon he became Canon of Westminster in 1852....
. Within eight years of his graduation at Cambridge he had published two legal text-books ("The Suit in Equity" and "The Law of Trusteeships") which immediately attracted attention. His prospects at the chancery Bar were already assured when, in 1861, he decided to try his religious vocation in the Society of Jesus.
Entering the English Novitiate 7 September, 1861, he there passed through the regular biennium of probation, attended lectures in philosophy at St. Mary's Hall, Stonyhurst, for one year, taught for two years at Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
, and thence passed on to his theological studies at St. Beuno's, where he was ordained priest in 1870.
He began to teach the higher classes at Stonyhurst. The requirements in physics and mathematics insisted upon by the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
at that time constituted an obstacle to Stonyhurst boys whose time had been almost monopolized by their Latin and Greek studies. Father Hunter's efforts to deal with this situation resulted in an increased number of Stonyhurst students mentioned in the London Honours List, as well as in two books which he compiled to assist others in the same branch of teaching.
His influence was widened when, in 1875, he took up the training of Jesuit scholastics who were to teach in the colleges of the English Province. It was after ten years of this work that he was appointed rector of St. Beuno's, where he wrote the Outlines of Dogmatic Theology (3 vols., 1st ed. London, 1894). Other spare moments were given to conducting the "Cases of Conscience" for the Diocese of Salford
Diocese of Salford
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Salford is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese centred around Salford Cathedral in the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England....
. During the last five years of his life, passed at Stonyhurst, he began a Short History of England which was unfinished at his death.