James Tate (headmaster)
James Tate | |
---|---|
Born |
Richmond, North Yorkshire, UK | 11 June 1771
Died |
2 September 1843 72) Clifton, Bristol | (aged
Other names | Dr Tate |
Education | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge (MA) |
Occupation | Headmaster |
Employer | Richmond School |
Political party | Whig |
Religion | Christian (Anglican) |
James Tate (11 June 1771 – 1843) was the headmaster of Richmond School and canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London.[1]
Early life
He was born in Richmond, North Yorkshire on 11 June 1771, the only surviving son of Thomas Tate, a working maltster originally from Berwick upon Tweed, and his wife, Dinah Cumstone, who came from a family of small farmers in Swaledale.[2]
Having attended two private schools, in May 1779, Tate entered Richmond School.[2] Whilst there, the headmaster Reverend Anthony Temple recognised his talent, and in 1784 found him a job as amanuensis to the rector of Richmond Francis Blackburne.[2] Enjoying access to Blackburne's library acted as a stimulus for Tate, who with Temple's help obtained a sizarship at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.[3]
Tate was appointed headmaster of Richmond School on 27 September 1796, the fulfillment of a childhood ambition.[3] Tate was responsible for transforming Richmond School into one of the leading classical schools of its day, and the leading Whig school, attracting boys from throughout the country, at a rate of 100 guineas a year.[2][4][5]
Tate's invincibles
Between 1812 and 1833 six pupils a year on average proceeded to university. 21 of them became fellows, 13 of them at Trinity College, Cambridge.[6] They became so "successful, admired and feared" whilst at Cambridge that they earned the title of ‘Tate's invincibles’.[2][7] Their number included George Peacock, Richard Sheepshanks, Marcus Beresford and James Raine.[8] Another pupil was Herbert Knowles.[9] Tate rejected corporal punishment for his pupils, and refused to rule by fear, but instead inspired in them a love of learning.
Classical scholar
Tate was a widely respected classical scholar. Robert Surtees, the Durham antiquary, recalled a night spent with him quoting from The Iliad, and Sydney Smith, who by chance travelled in the same coach as Tate, declared to a friend that Tate was "a man dripping with Greek".[2] The Times printed a glowing obituary, noting that "as a teacher of classical learning, none of his contemporaries were more successful".[10]
References
- ↑ http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=450&p=0
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Carr, William; Curthoys, M. C. "Tate, James (1771–1843)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26985. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- 1 2 Richard Foulkes (2005). Lewis Carroll and the Victorian Stage: Theatricals in a Quiet Life. Ashgate. p. 21. ISBN 978-0-7546-0466-2.
- ↑ http://fretwell.kangaweb.com.au/pdfs/Edward%20Kay.pdf
- ↑ Patricia James (1979). Population Malthus: His Life and Times. Taylor & Francis. p. 412. ISBN 978-0-415-38113-0.
- ↑ http://www.richmond.org/guide/history.html
- ↑ Alexander Chisholm Gooden; Jonathan Smith; Christopher Stray (2003). Cambridge in the 1830s: The Letters of Alexander Chisholm Gooden, 1831-1841. Boydell Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-1-84383-010-8.
- ↑ Memoir of Augustus De Morgan: With Selections from His Letters By Sophia Elizabeth De Morgan, Augustus De Morgan, p. 104
- ↑ Garnett, Richard; Haigh, John D. "Knowles, Herbert (1798–1817)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15768. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ George Moody, ed. (1843). "The Late Rev. James Tate, A.M., Formerly Master of Richmond School Yorkshire". The English journal of education. 1. p. 351.
External links
- Carr, William (1898). "Tate, James". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 55. London: Smith, Elder & Co.