Gresham Professor of Rhetoric

The Professor of Rhetoric at Gresham College, London, gives free educational lectures to the general public. The college was founded for this purpose in 1596 / 1597, when it appointed seven professors; this has since increased to nine and in addition the college now has visiting professors.

The Professor of Rhetoric is always appointed by the Mercers' Side of the Joint Grand Gresham Committee, a body administered jointly by the Worshipful Company of Mercers and the City of London Corporation. The title is a broad one, and Professors of Rhetoric have included historians, poets, educators and literary critics.

List of Gresham Professors of Rhetoric

Note, years given as, for example 1596 / 1597, refer to Old Style and New Style dates.

NameStarted
1Caleb WillisMarch 1596 / 1597
2Richard Ball1598
3Charles Croke14 January 1613 / 1614
4Henry Croke26 May 1619
5Edward Wilkinson13 April 1627
6John Goodridge6 November 1638
7Richard Hunt29 November 1654
8William Croune FRS8 June1659
9Henry Jenkes21 October 1670
10John King[1]2 October 1676
11Charles Gresham20 August 1686
12Edward Martyn4 December 1696
13John Ward1 September 1720
14Joseph Whateley19 January 1759
15Joseph Thomas Waugh[2]11 April 1797
16F Newnham7 January 1808
17Edward Owen[3]13 November 1817
18Charlton Lane23 April 1863
19Thomas Francis Dallin9 July 1875
20J E Nixon4 February 1881
21Foster Watson22 January 1915
22Oliver Elton19 April 1929
23George Stuart Gordon2 May 1930
24Arthur William Reed8 December 1933
1939–1945 Lectures in abeyance
25Rowland Walter Jepson6 June 1946
26Lord David Cecil27 June 1947
27Nevill Coghill14 October 1948
28William Empson1953
29Richard Hughes1954
30Bonamy Dobrée1957
31Stephen Spender1961
32John Wain1963 (Hilary term)
33Cecil Day-Lewis1963–1964
34Patric Dickinson1965–1967
35Sir Robert Birley1968–1982
1983–1984 vacant
36John Morley Pick1985
37Jan Kott1986
38John Morley Pick1987
39J M Rae1988
40Sir Andrew Derbyshire1990
41Peter G. Moore1 September 1992
42Peter Hennessy1 September 1994
43Lynette Hunter1 September 1997
44Richard Sorabji CBE FBA1 September 2000
45Kathleen Burk1 September 2003
46Rodney Barker1 September 2006
47Richard J. Evans1 September 2009
48Belinda Jack1 September 2013[4]
49Sir Jonathan Bate1 September 2017

Notes
  1. William, Birken. "King, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/47336. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "Waugh, Joseph Thomas (WH784JT)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  3. "Owen, Edward (OWN802E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  4. 'Four Century Old Tradition continued through The Mysteries of Reading and Writing: Belinda Jack appointed to London’s Oldest Professorship' Gresham College press release concerning the appointment

References

Further reading
  • Ward, John (1740). The Lives of the Professors of Gresham College. New York & London: Johnson Reprint Corporation.
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