William Adams (author)
Encyclopedia
William Adams Church of England
clergyman and author of Christian allegories
popular in Britain in the 19th century.
family, being the second son of Mr. Serjeant Adams, by his marriage with Miss Eliza Nation, daughter of a well-known Exeter banker. He was educated at Eton
and Oxford, and between the time of his leaving school and entering the university was the pupil of Dr. John Brasse, author of Brasse's Greek Gradus, by whom his great abilities were first appreciated. He obtained a postmastership at Merton
, and in 1836 took a double first-class degree, his elder brother having gained a similar distinction eighteen months previously.
In 1837 he became fellow and tutor of his college, and in 1840 vicar of St. Peter's-in-the-East, a Merton living generally held by a resident fellow (and nowadays deconsecrated and forming part of St Edmund Hall
. With his immediate predecessor at St. Peter's, Walter Kerr Hamilton
, and his immediate successor, Edmund Hobhouse
, Mr. Adams was very intimate. He always took a deep interest in the welfare of the parish, and has left us an interesting memorial of his incumbency in his well-known Warnings of the Holy Week, a set of lectures preached at St. Peter's in Holy Week
, 1842. In the spring of this year he went to Eton as one of the examiners for the Newcastle scholarship, and, while bathing there, was all but drowned, and caught a violent cold which, flying to his lungs, ultimately proved fatal. It was hoped that a few months of residence in a warm climate would restore his health, and he accordingly passed the winter of 1842 in Madeira
. But the disease had gained too firm a hold to be checked, and he resigned his living, settling at Bonchurch
, Isle of Wight
. Here he passed the last few years of his life, busily engaged with his pen, and taking part in every effort to improve the spiritual condition of the neighbourhood. He was at Bonchurch acquainted with Elizabeth Missing Sewell
. One of his last public acts was to lay the foundation-stone of the new church at Bonchurch; and a few months later his remains were laid in the churchyard of the old church, where, by a happy design, his grave has the ‘shadow of the cross’ ever resting upon it.
All Adams's allegories were published when he was virtually a dying man. The Shadow of the Cross, written at Arborne Cottage, near Chertsey
, in the summer of 1842, was followed by the Distant Hills in 1844. The design of both was to show the privileges of the baptised Christian and the danger of forfeiting those privileges. His next work, the Fall of Crœsus, was less successful; not, according to the Dictionary of National Biography
(DNB), from any falling off in point of composition, but because the choice of subject was less happy. It is simply an English version of the story of Herodotus
, with a Christian colouring. But his next production, the Old Man's Home, was the most successful of all his works. The DNB speculates that its success rests on the fact that the scene of it was laid in the Undercliff, which Adams knew well and loved, and which he described most vividly. The story itself is of additional interest, dealing as it does with an ‘old man,’ who is represented as hovering on the borderland between sanity and insanity, but full of true aspirations which to his keepers were unintelligible, when it is known that the author's father had done much to promote a more considerate treatment of the insane. This story was a special favourite with the poet Wordsworth
. The King's Messengers was written during the very last months of Adams's life. Its object is to illustrate the danger of a wrong, and the blessedness of a right, use of money; and in the delineation of the characters the writer shows a dramatic power which he had not before displayed. Besides the works which bear William Adams's name there are two others which are to be ascribed to him, the Cherry Stones, or Charlton School, a capital story popular with boys, for the completed and edited by his brother, the Rev. Henry Cadwallader Adams, a well-known author; and Silvio, an allegory written before any of the others, and revised and published with a modest preface by another brother in 1862.
The popularity of Adams's allegories, which, besides passing through many editions in English, have been translated into more than one modern language, has been out of all proportion to their apparent slightness. The circumstances of their composition, no doubt, give a tinge of romantic interest to them—an interest which extends to the brief career of their pious and gifted author. But apart from this, according to the DNB, there is a peculiar fascination about them which carries the reader along, and which thoroughly reflects the personal character of the man.
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...
clergyman and author of Christian allegories
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
popular in Britain in the 19th century.
Biography
Adams was a member of an old WarwickshireWarwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
family, being the second son of Mr. Serjeant Adams, by his marriage with Miss Eliza Nation, daughter of a well-known Exeter banker. He was educated at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Oxford, and between the time of his leaving school and entering the university was the pupil of Dr. John Brasse, author of Brasse's Greek Gradus, by whom his great abilities were first appreciated. He obtained a postmastership at Merton
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, and in 1836 took a double first-class degree, his elder brother having gained a similar distinction eighteen months previously.
In 1837 he became fellow and tutor of his college, and in 1840 vicar of St. Peter's-in-the-East, a Merton living generally held by a resident fellow (and nowadays deconsecrated and forming part of St Edmund Hall
St Edmund Hall, Oxford
St Edmund Hall is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Better known within the University by its nickname, "Teddy Hall", the college has a claim to being "the oldest academical society for the education of undergraduates in any university"...
. With his immediate predecessor at St. Peter's, Walter Kerr Hamilton
Walter Kerr Hamilton
Walter Kerr Hamilton was the Anglican Bishop of Salisbury from 27 March 1854 to 1 August 1869.He was born in 1808, educated at Eton College, tutored by Thomas Arnold, and then attended Christ Church College, University of Oxford, where he took a first class degree in Greats. He was elected to a...
, and his immediate successor, Edmund Hobhouse
Edmund Hobhouse
Edmund Hobhouse was the English-born bishop of Nelson, New Zealand, and an antiquary.-Biography:Edmund Hobhouse, born in London on 17 April 1817, was elder brother of Arthur Hobhouse, 1st Baron Hobhouse, and was second son of Henry Hobhouse, under-secretary of state for the home department...
, Mr. Adams was very intimate. He always took a deep interest in the welfare of the parish, and has left us an interesting memorial of his incumbency in his well-known Warnings of the Holy Week, a set of lectures preached at St. Peter's in Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
, 1842. In the spring of this year he went to Eton as one of the examiners for the Newcastle scholarship, and, while bathing there, was all but drowned, and caught a violent cold which, flying to his lungs, ultimately proved fatal. It was hoped that a few months of residence in a warm climate would restore his health, and he accordingly passed the winter of 1842 in Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
. But the disease had gained too firm a hold to be checked, and he resigned his living, settling at Bonchurch
Bonchurch
Bonchurch is a small village to the East of Ventnor, on the southern part of theIsle of Wight, England. It is situated on The Undercliff, which itself is subject to regular landslips. A large section of the settlement is found in Upper Bonchurch, halfway up St Boniface Down on the main A3055 road...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
. Here he passed the last few years of his life, busily engaged with his pen, and taking part in every effort to improve the spiritual condition of the neighbourhood. He was at Bonchurch acquainted with Elizabeth Missing Sewell
Elizabeth Missing Sewell
Elizabeth Missing Sewell was an English author of religious and educational texts notable in the 19th century.-Biography:Elizabeth Missing Sewell was born at High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight, on 19 February 1815, was third daughter in a family of seven sons and five daughters of Thomas Sewell ,...
. One of his last public acts was to lay the foundation-stone of the new church at Bonchurch; and a few months later his remains were laid in the churchyard of the old church, where, by a happy design, his grave has the ‘shadow of the cross’ ever resting upon it.
All Adams's allegories were published when he was virtually a dying man. The Shadow of the Cross, written at Arborne Cottage, near Chertsey
Chertsey
Chertsey is a town in Surrey, England, on the River Thames and its tributary rivers such as the River Bourne. It can be accessed by road from junction 11 of the M25 London orbital motorway. It shares borders with Staines, Laleham, Shepperton, Addlestone, Woking, Thorpe and Egham...
, in the summer of 1842, was followed by the Distant Hills in 1844. The design of both was to show the privileges of the baptised Christian and the danger of forfeiting those privileges. His next work, the Fall of Crœsus, was less successful; not, according to the Dictionary of National Biography
Dictionary of National Biography
The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885...
(DNB), from any falling off in point of composition, but because the choice of subject was less happy. It is simply an English version of the story of Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, with a Christian colouring. But his next production, the Old Man's Home, was the most successful of all his works. The DNB speculates that its success rests on the fact that the scene of it was laid in the Undercliff, which Adams knew well and loved, and which he described most vividly. The story itself is of additional interest, dealing as it does with an ‘old man,’ who is represented as hovering on the borderland between sanity and insanity, but full of true aspirations which to his keepers were unintelligible, when it is known that the author's father had done much to promote a more considerate treatment of the insane. This story was a special favourite with the poet Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
. The King's Messengers was written during the very last months of Adams's life. Its object is to illustrate the danger of a wrong, and the blessedness of a right, use of money; and in the delineation of the characters the writer shows a dramatic power which he had not before displayed. Besides the works which bear William Adams's name there are two others which are to be ascribed to him, the Cherry Stones, or Charlton School, a capital story popular with boys, for the completed and edited by his brother, the Rev. Henry Cadwallader Adams, a well-known author; and Silvio, an allegory written before any of the others, and revised and published with a modest preface by another brother in 1862.
The popularity of Adams's allegories, which, besides passing through many editions in English, have been translated into more than one modern language, has been out of all proportion to their apparent slightness. The circumstances of their composition, no doubt, give a tinge of romantic interest to them—an interest which extends to the brief career of their pious and gifted author. But apart from this, according to the DNB, there is a peculiar fascination about them which carries the reader along, and which thoroughly reflects the personal character of the man.
External links
- Works by Adams at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
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