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{{Short description|English Anglican priest (1787–1857)}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
| type = Priest
{{Infobox clergy
| honorific-prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| honorific_prefix = [[The Reverend]]
| name = George Cornelius Gorham
| name = George Cornelius Gorham
| image = gcg.jpg
| honorific-suffix =
| title = [[Vicar (Anglicanism)|Vicar]] of [[Brampford Speke]]
| image = gcg.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Gorham in 1850
| caption = Gorham in 1850
| pronunciation =
| church = [[Church of England]]
| province =
| diocese = [[Diocese of Exeter|Exeter]]
| term = 1847–1857
| predecessor =
| successor =
| opposed =
| other_post =
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination = 1811
| ordained_by =
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1787|8|21|df=y}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1787|8|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[St Neots]], [[Huntingdonshire]], England
| birth_place = [[St Neots]], England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1857|6|19|1787|8|21|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1857|6|19|1787|8|21|df=y}}
| death_place = <!-- as birth_place -->
| death_place = [[Brampford Speke]], England
| buried = <!-- or | tomb = -->
| alma_mater = [[Queens' College, Cambridge]]
| known_for = Being denied an ecclesiastical preferment due to his opinions concerning [[baptismal regeneration]]
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality =
| spouse =
| religion =
| residence =
| parents =
| spouse = <!-- or | partner = -->
| children =
| children =
| occupation =
| parents =
| religion = Christianity ([[Anglicanism|Anglican]])
| profession = <!-- or | previous_post = -->
| education =
| church = [[Church of England]]
| ordained = {{hlist | 1811 (deacon) | 1812 (priest)}}
| alma_mater = [[Queens' College, Cambridge]]
| writings =
| congregations =
| offices_held = {{unbulleted list | [[Vicar (Anglicanism)|Vicar]] of [[St Just in Penwith]] (1846&nbsp;– {{circa|1847}}) | Vicar of [[Brampford Speke]] (1847–1857)}}
| title =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
}}
}}
'''George Cornelius Gorham''' (21 August 1787{{snd}}19 June 1857) was a [[vicar]] in the [[Church of England]]. His legal recourse to being denied a certain post, subsequently taken to a secular court, caused great controversy.
'''George Cornelius Gorham''' (1787–1857) was a [[priest]] in the [[Church of England]]. His legal recourse to being denied a certain post, decided subsequently by a secular court, caused great controversy.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Gorham was born in [[St Neots]], [[Huntingdonshire]]. He entered [[Queens' College, Cambridge]], in 1805, graduating BA as 3rd [[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|wrangler]] and Smith's prizeman in 1809.<ref>{{acad|id=GRN805GC|name=Gorham, George Cornelius}}</ref>
George Cornelius Gorham was born on 21 August 1787 in [[St Neots]], [[Huntingdonshire]], to Mary (née Greame) and George James Gorham.{{sfnm |1a1=Boase |1y=1890 |1p=243 |2a1=Burke |2y=1835 |2p=590}} He entered [[Queens' College, Cambridge]], in 1805, graduating with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree as third [[Wrangler (University of Cambridge)|wrangler]] and [[Smith's Prize|Smith's prizeman]] in 1809.<ref name="Cambridge Alumni Database">{{acad|id=GRN805GC|name=Gorham, George Cornelius}}</ref>


He was ordained in 1811, despite the misgivings of the [[Bishop of Ely]], [[Thomas Dampier]], who found Gorham's views at odds with [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] [[doctrine]]. Gorham's views on baptism had caused comment, particularly his contention that by baptism infants do not become members of Christ and the children of God.<ref name=nie/> After [[curate|curacies]] in several parishes, he was instituted as vicar of [[St Just in Penwith]] by [[Henry Phillpotts]], [[Bishop of Exeter]], in 1846.
He was ordained as a deacon on 10 March 1811,<ref name="Cambridge Alumni Database"/> despite the misgivings of the [[Bishop of Ely]], [[Thomas Dampier]], who found Gorham's opinions at odds with [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] [[doctrine]].{{sfn|Boase|1890|p=243}} Gorham's views on [[baptism]] had caused comment, particularly his contention that by baptism infants do not become members of Christ and the children of God.{{sfn|Gilman|Peck|Colby|1905}} After being ordained as a priest on 23 February 1812<ref name="Cambridge Alumni Database"/> and serving as a [[curate]] in several parishes, he was instituted as vicar of [[St Just in Penwith]] by [[Henry Phillpotts]], [[Bishop of Exeter]], in 1846.{{sfn|Boase|1890|p=244}}


==Controversy==
==Controversy==
In 1847 Gorham was [[right of presentation|presented]] by the [[Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham|Earl of Cottenham]], the [[Lord Chancellor]], to the vicarage of [[Brampford Speke]], a parish in a small [[Devon]] village near [[Exeter]],{{sfnm |1a1=Boase |1y=1890 |1p=244 |2a1=Eckel |2y=1952 |2p=276}} which has a [[parish church]] dedicated to [[Saint Peter]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Peter Church Brampford Speke |url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/8674/ |access-date=2022-05-28 |website=www.achurchnearyou.com |language=en}}</ref> The bishop argued that Gorham's [[Calvinism|Calvinistic]] view of baptism made him unsuitable for the post.{{sfn|"Henry Phillpotts"|2016}} Gorham appealed to the ecclesiastical [[Court of Arches]] to compel the bishop to institute him but the court confirmed the bishop's decision and awarded costs against Gorham.{{sfn|Judicial Committee of the Privy Council|1850|p=2}}
The following year, Gorham was recommended for [[Brampford Speke]], a small village in [[Devon]], 4 miles to the north of [[Exeter]], which has a [[Church of England parish church]] dedicated to [[St Peter]].
[[File:Plaque for George Cornelius Gorham.jpg|alt=Plaque which reads 'George Cornelius Gorham 1787-1857 Born at 22 Market Square Theologian, historian, fellow of Kings Colledge Cambridge One of 12 children of a St Neots merchant & banker'|thumb|Plaque for George Cornelius Gorham in [[St Neots]]]]
Gorham then appealed to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]], which caused great controversy about whether a secular court should decide the doctrine of the [[Church of England]].{{sfn|Erb|2013|p=lxxi}} The ecclesiastical lawyer [[Edward Lowth Badeley]], a member of the [[Oxford Movement]], appeared before the committee to argue the bishop's cause, but the committee ([[James Knight-Bruce|Knight Bruce, V-C]] dissenting)<ref>[1850] Moore's Special Report, 462.</ref> <ref>{{cite book
|editor1-last =Brodrick
|editor1-first =George C.
|editor2-last =Fremantle
|editor2-first =William H.
|date=1865
|title=A Collection of the Judgments of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Ecclesiastical Cases Relating to Doctrine and Discipline
|url=
|location=
|publisher=
|page=64, at p.105
}}</ref> eventually reversed the bishop's and the Arches' decision on 8 March 1850 and granted Gorham his institution.{{sfn|Eckel|1952|p=276}}


Phillpotts repudiated the judgment and threatened to excommunicate the [[archbishop of Canterbury]] and anyone who dared to institute Gorham.{{sfn|Jordan|1998}} Fourteen prominent Anglicans, including [[Henry Edward Manning]], requested that the Church of England repudiate the opinion that the Privy Council had expressed concerning baptism.{{sfn|Strachey|1918|pp=56–58}} As there was not any response from the Church apart from Phillpotts' protestations, they quit the Church of England and were received into the [[Catholic Church in England|Catholic Church]].
Upon examining him, Bishop Henry Phillpotts took exception to Gorham's view that [[baptismal regeneration]] was conditional and dependent upon a later personal adoption of promises made. The bishop found Gorham to be a [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] in this matter and hence unsuitable for the post.

Gorham appealed to the ecclesiastical [[Court of Arches]] to compel the bishop to institute him but the court confirmed the bishop's decision and awarded costs against Gorham.

Gorham then appealed to the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]], which caused great controversy about whether a secular court should decide on the doctrine of the Church of England. The ecclesiastical lawyer [[Edward Lowth Badeley]], a member of the [[Oxford Movement]], appeared before the committee to argue the bishop's cause but eventually the committee (in a split decision) reversed the bishop's and the Arches' decision on 9 March 1850, granting Gorham his institution.

Phillpotts repudiated the judgment and threatened to excommunicate the Archbishop of Canterbury and anyone who dared to institute Gorham.

Fourteen prominent Anglicans, including Badeley and [[Henry Edward Manning]], called upon the Church of England to repudiate the views that the Privy Council had expressed on baptism. As there was no response from the church – apart from Phillpotts' protestations – they left the Church of England and joined the [[Roman Catholic Church]].<ref>[[Lytton Strachey]] ''Eminent Victorians''</ref>


==Subsequent life==
==Subsequent life==
Gorham himself spent the rest of his life at his post in Brampford Speke. As vicar, Gorham [[Victorian restoration|restored]] the church building, entirely rebuilding the tower, for which Phillpotts gave some money. He was an antiquary of some reputation, and the author of a number of pamphlets.<ref name=nie>{{cite NIE |year=1905 |editor-last=Gilman |editor-first=Daniel Coit |editor-link=Daniel Coit Gilman |editor2-last=Peck |editor2-first=Harry Thurston |editor3-last=Colby |editor3-first=Frank Moore |wstitle=Gorham, George Cornelius |volume=9 |publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company |page=50}}</ref>
Gorham himself spent the rest of his life at his post in [[Brampford Speke]]. As vicar, Gorham [[Victorian restoration|restored]] the church building, entirely rebuilding the tower, for which Phillpotts gave some money. He was an antiquary and botanist of some reputation, as well as the author of a number of pamphlets.{{sfnm |1a1=Beeson |1y=2002 |1p=212 |2a1=Gilman |2a2=Peck |2a3=Colby |2y=1905}} He died on 19 June 1857 in Brampford Speke.{{sfn|Boase|1890|p=245}}


==Publications==
==Publications==
* George Cornelius Gorham, [https://archive.org/details/historyantiquiti00gorh ''The History and Antiquities of Eynesbury and St. Neot's, in Huntingdonshire, and of St. Neot's in the county of Cornwall''], 1820.
* George Cornelius Gorham, [https://archive.org/details/historyantiquiti00gorh ''The History and Antiquities of Eynesbury and St. Neot's, in Huntingdonshire, and of St. Neot's in the county of Cornwall''], 1820.


==Notes==
==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity|Biography}}
{{Reflist}}
* [[Canon law of the Church of England]]
* [[Diocese of Exeter]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|22em}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite book
|last=Beeson
|first=Trevor
|author-link=Trevor Beeson
|year=2002
|title=The Bishops
|location=London
|publisher=SCM Press
|publication-date=2003
|isbn=978-0-334-02916-8
}}
* {{cite DNB
|last=Boase
|first=George Clement
|authorlink=George Clement Boase
|wstitle=Gorham, George Cornelius
|volume=22
|pages=243–245
|no-icon=1
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Burke
|first=John
|author-link=John Burke (genealogist)
|year=1835
|title=A Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank but Uninvested with Heritable Honours
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F_4GAAAAQAAJ
|volume=2
|location=London
|publisher=Henry Colburn
|access-date=14 December 2017
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Eckel
|first=E. H.
|year=1952
|title=Review of ''Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter'' by J. C. S. Nias
|journal=Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church
|volume=21
|issue=2
|pages=276–277
|issn=0018-2486
|jstor=42972116
}}
* {{cite book
|contributor-last=Erb
|contributor-first=Peter C.
|last1=Manning
|first1=Henry Edward
|author1-link=Henry Edward Manning
|last2=Gladstone
|first2=William Ewart
|author2-link=William Ewart Gladstone
|year=2013
|contribution=Introduction
|editor-last=Erb
|editor-first=Peter C.
|title=The Correspondence of Henry Edward Manning and William Ewart Gladstone
|volume=1
|location=Oxford
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|pages=xiii–cxx
|doi=10.1093/actrade/9780199577323.book.1
|isbn=978-0-19-957732-3
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|year=1905
|title=[[wikisource:The New International Encyclopædia/Gorham, George Cornelius|Gorham, George Cornelius]]
|editor-last=Gilman
|editor-first=Daniel Coit
|editor-link=Daniel Coit Gilman
|editor2-last=Peck
|editor2-first=Harry Thurston
|editor2-link=Harry Thurston Peck
|editor3-last=Colby
|editor3-first=Frank Moore
|editor3-link=Frank Moore Colby
|encyclopedia=[[New International Encyclopedia]]
|volume=9
|edition=1st
|location=New York
|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company
|page=50
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|year=2016
|title=Henry Phillpotts
|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Phillpotts
|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]
|access-date=14 December 2017
|ref={{sfnref|"Henry Phillpotts"|2016}}
}}
* {{cite journal
|last=Jordan
|first=Andrew
|year=1998
|title=George Cornelius Gorham, Clerk v Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter: A Case of Anglican Anxieties
|journal=Ecclesiastical Law Journal
|volume=5
|issue=23
|pages=104–111
|doi=10.1017/S0956618X00000065
|s2cid=144324453
|issn=0956-618X
}}
* {{cite book
|author=Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
|author-link=Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
|year=1850
|title=Gorham v. Bishop of Exeter: The Judgment of the Judicial Committee of Privy Council, Delivered March 8, 1850, Reversing the Decision of Sir H. J. Fust
|url=https://archive.org/details/a622207600greauoft
|location=London
|publisher=Seeleys
|access-date=14 December 2017
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Strachey
|first=Lytton
|author-link=Lytton Strachey
|year=1918
|title=Eminent Victorians
|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924014643609
|location=Garden City, New York
|publisher=Garden City Publishing Co.
|access-date=14 December 2017
}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|35em|indent=yes}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|year=1905
|title=[[wikisource:The New International Encyclopædia/Gorham Controversy|Gorham Controversy]]
|editor-last=Gilman
|editor-first=Daniel Coit
|editor-link=Daniel Coit Gilman
|editor2-last=Peck
|editor2-first=Harry Thurston
|editor2-link=Harry Thurston Peck
|editor3-last=Colby
|editor3-first=Frank Moore
|editor3-link=Frank Moore Colby
|encyclopedia=[[New International Encyclopedia]]
|volume=9
|edition=1st
|location=New York
|publisher=Dodd, Mead and Company
|pages=50–51
|ref=none
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Keble
|first=John
|author-link=John Keble
|year=2003
|orig-year=1868
|title=Village Sermons on the Baptismal Service
|url=http://anglicanhistory.org/keble/bapt/index.html
|publisher=Project Canterbury
|access-date=26 January 2018
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Liddon
|first=Henry Parry
|author-link=Henry Liddon
|year=1898
|title=Life of Edward Bouverie Pusey
|url=https://archive.org/details/lifeofedwardbouv03lidduoft
|volume=3
|edition=4th
|location=London
|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co.
|access-date=26 January 2018
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Nias
|first=J. C. S.
|year=1951
|title=Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter
|location=London
|publisher=SPCK
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Phillpotts
|first=Henry
|author-link=Henry Phillpotts
|year=1850
|title=A Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from the Bishop of Exeter
|url=http://anglicanhistory.org/hphillpotts/letter1850.html
|location=New York
|publisher=Pudney & Russell
|access-date=26 January 2018
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|last=Wolffe
|first=John
|year=2004
|title=Gorham, George Cornelius (1787–1857)
|encyclopedia=[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]
|edition=online
|location=Oxford
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/11099
}}
* {{cite encyclopedia
|year=1907
|title=[[wikisource:The Nuttall Encyclopædia/G#Gorham, George Cornelius|Gorham, George Cornelius]]
|editor-last=Wood
|editor-first=James
|editor-link=James Wood (encyclopaedist)
|encyclopedia=[[The Nuttall Encyclopædia]]
|location=London
|publisher=Frederick Warne
}}
{{refend}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://anglicanhistory.org/england/gorham.html Documents connected with the Gorham Controversy] from [[Project Canterbury]]
{{Nuttall poster|Gorham, George Cornelius}}
* [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/fhjfx George C. Gorham letter, 1856] at Pitts Theology Library, [[Candler School of Theology]]
*[http://anglicanhistory.org/england/gorham.html Documents connected with the Gorham Controversy] from [[Project Canterbury]]
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Gorham Controversy|year=1905 |short=x}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:19th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Clergy from Devon]]
[[Category:Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglicans]]
[[Category:Evangelical Anglican clergy]]
[[Category:People from St Neots]]

Latest revision as of 20:19, 2 December 2024

The Reverend
George Cornelius Gorham
Gorham in 1850
Born(1787-08-21)21 August 1787
St Neots, England
Died19 June 1857(1857-06-19) (aged 69)
Brampford Speke, England
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge
Known forBeing denied an ecclesiastical preferment due to his opinions concerning baptismal regeneration
ReligionChristianity (Anglican)
ChurchChurch of England
Ordained
  • 1811 (deacon)
  • 1812 (priest)
Offices held

George Cornelius Gorham (1787–1857) was a priest in the Church of England. His legal recourse to being denied a certain post, decided subsequently by a secular court, caused great controversy.

Early life

[edit]

George Cornelius Gorham was born on 21 August 1787 in St Neots, Huntingdonshire, to Mary (née Greame) and George James Gorham.[1] He entered Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1805, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree as third wrangler and Smith's prizeman in 1809.[2]

He was ordained as a deacon on 10 March 1811,[2] despite the misgivings of the Bishop of Ely, Thomas Dampier, who found Gorham's opinions at odds with Anglican doctrine.[3] Gorham's views on baptism had caused comment, particularly his contention that by baptism infants do not become members of Christ and the children of God.[4] After being ordained as a priest on 23 February 1812[2] and serving as a curate in several parishes, he was instituted as vicar of St Just in Penwith by Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter, in 1846.[5]

Controversy

[edit]

In 1847 Gorham was presented by the Earl of Cottenham, the Lord Chancellor, to the vicarage of Brampford Speke, a parish in a small Devon village near Exeter,[6] which has a parish church dedicated to Saint Peter.[7] The bishop argued that Gorham's Calvinistic view of baptism made him unsuitable for the post.[8] Gorham appealed to the ecclesiastical Court of Arches to compel the bishop to institute him but the court confirmed the bishop's decision and awarded costs against Gorham.[9]

Plaque which reads 'George Cornelius Gorham 1787-1857 Born at 22 Market Square Theologian, historian, fellow of Kings Colledge Cambridge One of 12 children of a St Neots merchant & banker'
Plaque for George Cornelius Gorham in St Neots

Gorham then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which caused great controversy about whether a secular court should decide the doctrine of the Church of England.[10] The ecclesiastical lawyer Edward Lowth Badeley, a member of the Oxford Movement, appeared before the committee to argue the bishop's cause, but the committee (Knight Bruce, V-C dissenting)[11] [12] eventually reversed the bishop's and the Arches' decision on 8 March 1850 and granted Gorham his institution.[13]

Phillpotts repudiated the judgment and threatened to excommunicate the archbishop of Canterbury and anyone who dared to institute Gorham.[14] Fourteen prominent Anglicans, including Henry Edward Manning, requested that the Church of England repudiate the opinion that the Privy Council had expressed concerning baptism.[15] As there was not any response from the Church apart from Phillpotts' protestations, they quit the Church of England and were received into the Catholic Church.

Subsequent life

[edit]

Gorham himself spent the rest of his life at his post in Brampford Speke. As vicar, Gorham restored the church building, entirely rebuilding the tower, for which Phillpotts gave some money. He was an antiquary and botanist of some reputation, as well as the author of a number of pamphlets.[16] He died on 19 June 1857 in Brampford Speke.[17]

Publications

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ^ Boase 1890, p. 243; Burke 1835, p. 590.
  2. ^ a b c "Gorham, George Cornelius (GRN805GC)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. ^ Boase 1890, p. 243.
  4. ^ Gilman, Peck & Colby 1905.
  5. ^ Boase 1890, p. 244.
  6. ^ Boase 1890, p. 244; Eckel 1952, p. 276.
  7. ^ "St Peter Church Brampford Speke". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 28 May 2022.
  8. ^ "Henry Phillpotts" 2016.
  9. ^ Judicial Committee of the Privy Council 1850, p. 2.
  10. ^ Erb 2013, p. lxxi.
  11. ^ [1850] Moore's Special Report, 462.
  12. ^ Brodrick, George C.; Fremantle, William H., eds. (1865). A Collection of the Judgments of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Ecclesiastical Cases Relating to Doctrine and Discipline. p. 64, at p.105.
  13. ^ Eckel 1952, p. 276.
  14. ^ Jordan 1998.
  15. ^ Strachey 1918, pp. 56–58.
  16. ^ Beeson 2002, p. 212; Gilman, Peck & Colby 1905.
  17. ^ Boase 1890, p. 245.

Works cited

[edit]

Further reading

[edit]
[edit]
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