George Cornelius Gorham Explained
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
George Cornelius Gorham was born on 21 August 1787 in St Neots, Huntingdonshire, to Mary (née Greame) and George James Gorham. He entered Queens' College, Cambridge, in 1805, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree as third wrangler and Smith's prizeman in 1809.
He was ordained as a deacon on 10 March 1811, despite the misgivings of the Bishop of Ely, Thomas Dampier, who found Gorham's opinions at odds with 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. After being ordained as a priest on 23 February 1812 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.
Controversy
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, which has a parish church dedicated to Saint Peter.[1] The bishop argued that Gorham's Calvinistic view of baptism made him 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 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 the committee (Knight Bruce, V-C dissenting)[2] [3] eventually reversed the bishop's and the Arches' decision on 9 March 1850 and granted 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 Henry Edward Manning, requested that the Church of England repudiate the opinion that the Privy Council had expressed concerning baptism. As there was not any response from the Church apart from Phillpotts' protestations, they quit the Church of England and joined the Catholic Church.
Subsequent life
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. He died on 19 June 1857 in Brampford Speke.
Publications
See also
References
Works cited
- Book: Beeson
, Trevor
. Trevor Beeson. 2002. The Bishops. London. SCM Press. 2003. 978-0-334-02916-8.
- Boase. George Clement. George Clement Boase. Gorham, George Cornelius. 22. 243–245. 1.
- Book: Burke
, John
. John Burke (genealogist). 1835. 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. 2. London. Henry Colburn. 14 December 2017.
- Eckel. E. H.. 1952. Review of Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter by J. C. S. Nias. Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episcopal Church. 21. 2. 276–277. 0018-2486. 42972116.
- Book: Erb. Peter C.. Manning. Henry Edward. Henry Edward Manning. Gladstone. William Ewart. William Ewart Gladstone. 2013. Introduction. Erb. Peter C.. The Correspondence of Henry Edward Manning and William Ewart Gladstone. 1. Oxford. Oxford University Press. xiii–cxx. 10.1093/actrade/9780199577323.book.1. 978-0-19-957732-3.
- Encyclopedia: 1905. Gorham, George Cornelius. Gilman. Daniel Coit. Daniel Coit Gilman. Peck. Harry Thurston. Harry Thurston Peck. Colby. Frank Moore. Frank Moore Colby. New International Encyclopedia. 9. 1st. New York. Dodd, Mead and Company. 50.
- Encyclopedia: 2016. Henry Phillpotts. Encyclopædia Britannica. 14 December 2017. .
- Jordan. Andrew. 1998. George Cornelius Gorham, Clerk v Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exeter: A Case of Anglican Anxieties. Ecclesiastical Law Journal. 5. 23. 104–111. 10.1017/S0956618X00000065. 144324453. 0956-618X.
- Book: Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 1850. 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. London. Seeleys. 14 December 2017.
- Book: Strachey
, Lytton
. Lytton Strachey. 1918. Eminent Victorians. Garden City, New York. Garden City Publishing Co.. 14 December 2017.
Further reading
- Encyclopedia: 1905. Gorham Controversy. Gilman. Daniel Coit. Daniel Coit Gilman. Peck. Harry Thurston. Harry Thurston Peck. Colby. Frank Moore. Frank Moore Colby. New International Encyclopedia. 9. 1st. New York. Dodd, Mead and Company. 50–51. none.
- Book: Keble
, John
. John Keble. 2003. 1868. Village Sermons on the Baptismal Service. Project Canterbury. 26 January 2018.
- Book: Liddon
, Henry Parry
. Henry Liddon. 1898. Life of Edward Bouverie Pusey. 3. 4th. London. Longmans, Green, and Co.. 26 January 2018.
- Book: Nias
, J. C. S.
. 1951. Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter. London. SPCK.
- Book: Phillpotts
, Henry
. Henry Phillpotts. 1850. A Letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from the Bishop of Exeter. New York. Pudney & Russell. 26 January 2018.
- Encyclopedia: Wolffe. John. 2004. Gorham, George Cornelius (1787–1857). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. online. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 10.1093/ref:odnb/11099.
- Encyclopedia: 1907. Gorham, George Cornelius. Wood. James. James Wood (encyclopaedist). The Nuttall Encyclopædia. London. Frederick Warne.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: St Peter Church Brampford Speke . 2022-05-28 . www.achurchnearyou.com . en.
- 1850
- Book: Brodrick . George C. . Fremantle . William H. . 1865 . A Collection of the Judgments of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Ecclesiastical Cases Relating to Doctrine and Discipline . 64, at p.105.