Reverend Vicesimus Knox, son of Reverend Vicesimus Knock, LL.B. and Ann Knox [Wall]
Vicesimus Knox, D.D., was born on 8th December 1752 at Newington Green in North London the only child of Reverend Vicesimus Knox, LL.B., (1729-1780) and Ann Wall. He was educated privately at home until the age of 14 when Vicesimus was sent to Merchant Taylors' School in London where his father was a master and at St. John's College, Oxford (1771-1775). He subsequently became a fellow of St John's until 1778 when he took the post of headmastership of Tonbridge School replacing his father who had held the post for the previous six years.
Vicesimus' period as headmaster for 34 years is noted for the growing reputation of the school and its increasing popularity with numbers of pupils rising four-fold to 80 during his term in office. He held strong views on education and christian values and published extensively throughout his career including Essays Moral and Literary (1778), Liberal Education (1781) and Elegant Extracts (1783 & 1789). He wrote extensively on morals and literature, and as a minister he preached on behalf of philanthropic causes and against war. He was an outspoken supporter of grammar schools throughout his life and published in his final year Remarks on the Tendency of Certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parpiament to Degrade Grammar Schools
In 1778 Vicesimus had married Mary Miller and, together, they had four children - Vicesimus (1779-1855), Sarah (1781- ), Thomas (1783-1843) and Holles Josiah (1787- ). The son Vicesimus became a barrister and Thomas, who was educated at Tonbridge School under his father and then at Brasenose College, Oxford, suceeded his father in 1812 to the headmastership of Tonbridge School which he held until 1843. Indeed, the three generations of Knox, were to hold the headmastership of Tonbridge school continuously for seventy-one years from 1772 until 1843.
In 1812, Vicesimus retired from his position at Tonbridge to live in London. On a visit to his son at Tonbridge in 1821, he was seized with an infammation of his intestines from which he died on the 6th September at the age of 69. His funeral took place at Tonbridge and he was buried in the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul where a monument commemorates his dedication "to the moral and intellectual improvement of man"
See also Vicesimus Knox, D.D. biography in The History of Tonbridge School by Septimus Rivington, B.A., published in 1869 and
Date
Type
Information
Source
8th Dec 1752
Born
At Newington Green in the County of Middlesex
The History of Tonbridge School
26th Dec 1778
Married
At St. James' Church in the Parish of Westminster, London
6th Sep 1821
Died
In the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
The History of Tonbridge School
after 6th Sep 1821
Buried
At St. Peter and St. Paul Parish Church in the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
The History of Tonbridge School
to the memory of
VICESIMUS KNOX, D.D.
master of tonbridge school, and rector of runwell and
ramsden crays in essex.
born dec. 8, 1752-died sept. 6, 1821.
a sound divine,
an elegant and profound scholar,
a polished and powerful writer,
an elequent, zealous, and persuasive preacher of the
gospel,
he employed his high endowments
to the glory of god
and the moral and intellecual improvement of man.
anxious ever to advance the happiness of his fellow-
creatures,
upon the purest principles of christian philanthropy,
with a lofty spirit of independence,
and a rare disinterestedness in conduct,
he disregarded the ordinary objects of wordly
ambition,
and shewed himself on all occasions
the enemy of public abuses,
the friend of civil and religious liberty,
the opponent of oppresive war,
the promoter of peace,
and the advocate of all the claims of humanity.
"he being dead yet speaketh"
1779
Birth of a son
In the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
IGI - Family Search
Batch P00839-1
1783
Birth of a son
In the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
IGI - Family Search
Batch P00839-1
1787
Birth of a son
In the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
IGI - Family Search
Batch P00839-1
1781
Birth of a daughter
In the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent
IGI - Family Search
Batch P00839-1
1778
Published
Essays Moral and Literary
The History of Tonbridge School
1781
Published
Liberal Education, or, A Practical Treatise on the Method of Acquiring Useful and Polite Learning
The History of Tonbridge School
1783
Published
Elegant Extracts, or, Useful and Entertaining Passages in Prose
The History of Tonbridge School
1787
Published
Winter Evenings, or, Lucubrations on Life and Letters
The History of Tonbridge School
1789
Published
Elegant Extracts, or, Useful and Entertaining Passages in Poetry
The History of Tonbridge School
1790
Published
Elegant Epistles, or, A Copious Collection of Familiar and Amusing Letters
The History of Tonbridge School
1791
Published
Family Lectures, or, Domestic Divinity
The History of Tonbridge School
1793
Published
Personal Nobility, or, Letters to a Young Nobleman
The History of Tonbridge School
1795
Published
Christian Philosophy, or, An Attempt to Display the Evidence and Excellence of Revealed Religion
The History of Tonbridge School
1821
Published
Remarks on the Tendency of Certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parpiament to Degrade Grammar Schools
The History of Tonbridge School
1812
Retired
At Adelphi Terrace, in London
The History of Tonbridge School
1778 to 1812
Appointed
At Tonbridge Grammar School in the Parish of Tonbridge, Kent; Head Mastership
The History of Tonbridge School
