Exeter College is a college of Oxford University, originally called Stapledon Hall, and founded in 1314 by Walter de Stapledon, bishop of Exeter, who made a foundation for a rector and twelve fellows. In 1404 Edmund Stafford, bishop of Exeter, added two fellowships and obtained leave to give the college its present name. Research Exeter College
A rector is usually the incumbent of a parishchurch in England, but the title is sometimes also given to the head of a college or school. A rector used to differ from a vicar in his taking the great tithes - such as corn, hay and wood, while the vicar took the small tithes, such as hops and potatoes. Research Rector
Tom Putt is a very old mid-season species of apple. The fruit is used for cooking and cider making. Very popular in the Midlands and the West Country, where cider was traditionally made. The species was raised in the late eighteenth century by the Reverend Tom Putt, Rector of Trent in Somerset, who was a keen fruit grower. The fruit is crisp and quite sharp when raw, but sweeter when cooked. Research Tom Putt
Richard Hakluyt was one of the earliest English collectors of voyages and maritime journals. He was born in 1553 and died in 1616. He entered Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1575, and became so eminent for his acquaintance with cosmography, that he was appointed public lecturer on that science. About 1584 he went to Paris as chaplain to the English ambassador, and stayed there five years. After his return home he prepared for the press his collection of The Principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by Sea, or over Land, within the Compass of these 1500 Years. The first volume, in folio, was published in 1589, and the third and last in 1600. Besides narratives of nearly 220 voyages, these volumes comprise patents, letters, instructions, and other documents, not readily to be found elsewhere. On his death he was a prebendary of Westminster and rector of Wetheringset in Suffolk, and was interred in Westminster Abbey. Research Richard Hakluyt
Richard Hakluyt was one of the earliest English collectors of voyages and maritime journals. He was born in 1553 and died in 1616. He entered Christ Church College, Oxford, in 1575, and became so eminent for his acquaintance with cosmography, that he was appointed public lecturer on that science. About 1584 he went to Paris as chaplain to the English ambassador, and stayed there five years. After his return home he prepared for the press his collection of The Principal Navigations, Voyages, and Discoveries of the English Nation, made by Sea, or over Land, within the Compass of these 1500 Years. The first volume, in folio, was published in 1589, and the third and last in 1600. Besides narratives of nearly 220 voyages, these volumes comprise patents, letters, instructions, and other documents, not readily to be found elsewhere. On his death he was a prebendary of Westminster and rector of Wetheringset in Suffolk, and was interred in Westminster Abbey. Research Richard Hakluyt
Albertus Magnus (Albert the Great) was Count of Bollstadt and a distinguished German scholar of the thirteenth century. He was born in 1193 and died in 1280. He studied at Padua, became a monk of the Dominican order, teaching in the schools of Hildeslioini, Ratisbon, and Cologne, where Thomas Aquinas became his pupil. In 1245 he went to Paris and publicly expounded the doctrines of Aristotle, notwithstanding the prohibition of the church. He became rector of the school of Cologne in 1249; in 1254 he was made provincial of his order in Germany; and in 1260 he received from Pope Alexander IV the appointment of Bishop of Ratisbon. In 1263 he retired to his convent at Cologne, where he composed many works, especially commentaries on Aristotle. Owing to his profound knowledge he did not escape the imputation of using magical arts and trafficking with the 'Evil One'. Research Albertus Magnus
Alexander Adam was a Scottish classical scholar. He was born in 1741 and died in 1809. In 1768 he became rector of the High School of Edinburgh, and held the post until his death. He wrote 'Principles of Latin and English Grammar'; 'Roman Antiquities, a useful school-book'; 'Summary of Geography and History'; 'Classical Biography', and other works. Research Alexander Adam
Charlotte Bronte was an English writer. She was born in 1816 at Thornton and died in 1855. She was the third daughter of the Reverend Patrick Bronte, rector of Thornton, from which he removed in 1820, on becoming incumbent of Haworth, a moorland village in the West Riding of Yorkshire, about four miles from Keighley. Her mother died soon after this removal, and her father, an able though eccentric man, brought up Charlotte and her sisters in quite a Spartan fashion, inuring them to every kind of industry and fatigue.
After an education received partly at home and partly at neighbouring schools, Charlotte Bronte became a teacher, and then a governess in a family. In 1842 she went with her sister Emily Bronte to Brussels, with the view of acquiring a knowledge of the French and German languages, and she subsequently taught for a year in the school she had attended here.
In 1844 arrangements were entered into by her and her sisters Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte to open a school at Haworth, but from the want of success in obtaining pupils no progress was ever made with their scheme. They resolved now to turn their attention to literary composition; and in 1846 a volume of poems by the three sisters was published, under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell. It was issued at their own risk, and attracted little attention, so they quit poetry for prose fiction, and produced each a novel. Charlotte Bronte (writing as Currer Bell) entitled her production The Professor, but it was everywhere refused by the publishing trade, and was not given to the world until after her death. Emily Bronte (writing as Ellis Bell) with her tale of Wuthering Heights, and Anne Bronte (writing as Acton Bell) with Agnes Grey, were more successful.
Charlotte Bronte's failure, however, did not discourage her, and she composed the novel of Jane Eyre, which was published in October, 1847. Its success was immediate and decided. Her second novel of Shirley appeared in 1849. Previous to this she had lost her two sisters, Emily dying on the 19th of December 1848, and Anne on the 28th of May, 1849 (after publishing a second novel, The Tenant of Wild Fell Hall). In the autumn of 1852 appeared Charlotte's third novel, Villette. Shortly after, she married her father's curate, the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls, but in nine months died of consumption. Her originally rejected tale of The Professor was published after her death, in 1857, and the same year a biography of her appeared written by Elizabeth Gaskell. Research Charlotte Bronte
Derwent Coleridge was an English teacher and writer. He was born in 1800 and died in 1883. From 1841 to 1864 he was principal of St Mark's College, Chelsea, and from 1864 to 1880 rector of Hanwell. Research Derwent Coleridge
Edward Bickersteth was an English clergyman of the Church of England. He was born in 1786 and died in 1850. He was in business as a solicitor in Norwich for a time, but took orders and went to Africa in 1816 to reorganize the stations of the Church Missionary Society. Returning to England he was chosen secretary to that society. In 1830 he became rector of Watton in Hertford, and was one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance. His publications, which had an immense circulation, included the Christian Student, A Treatise on the Lord's Supper, A Treatise on Prayer, The Signs of the Times, The Restoration of the Jews, A Practical Guide to the Prophecies, besides sermons and tracts without number. Research Edward Bickersth
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Exeter College
