Thomas Burgess
18 November 1759 -
19 February 1837

Family

Thomas Burgess was the son of a Hampshire grocer. In 1799 he married a Miss Bright.

Education

After seven years at Winchester, Burgess, in 1775, matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, graduating with a B.A. in 1778 and an M.A. in 1782. In the latter year, he became a tutor of his college, and in 1783 was elected fellow.

Church Appointments and Service

Burgess was ordained deacon and priest in 1784, and in the following year was appointed examining chaplain to Bishop Shute Barrington of Salisbury. After Bishop Barrington's transfer to Durham in 1791, Burgess was appointed to a prebend of Durham Cathedral. In 1795 he was given the living of Winston within the same county. In June 1803 he was elevated to the bishopric of St. David's, from which position he introduced significant measures for the moral and educational reform of his diocese. Before his transfer, in 1825, to the wealthier See of Salisbury, he laid the foundation-stone of St. David's College at Lampeter in Cardinganshire.

Noteworthy Publications

Burgess published more than a hundred works, consisting of charges, sermons, devotional treatises, grammars, biblical criticism, controversial theology, ecclesiastical politics, and church history. A list of his publications can be found in John S. Harford, The Life of Thomas Burgess, D.D., F.R.S., F.A.S., &c., &c., &c., Late Lord Bishop of Salisbury (London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1840).

Footnote

Burgess had been a friend of Hannah More and of evangelical leaders associated more or less with the Clapham Sect. He was a zealous reformer, and left "a deep mark on the history of the Welsh church." Unfortunately, "In nearly all that he wrote Burgess had some cherished principle or opinion to defend, for the sake of which he threw away discretion and impartiality." -- DNB 3: 313-14