Burgon, John William

BURGON, JOHN WILLIAM: Church of England scholar; b. at Smyrna (the son of a Turkey merchant) Aug. 21, 1813; d. at Chichester Aug. 4, 1888. He studied at London University (University College) 1829–30 and then entered his father's counting-house; matriculated at Worcester College, Oxford, 1841, and was graduated B.A., 1845; elected fellow of Oriel 1846, graduated M.A., 1848, B.D., 1871; ordained deacon 1848 and held curacies in Berkshire and Oxfordshire; became vicar of St. Mary's Oxford, 1863; Gresham professor of divinity 1867; was installed dean of Chichester 1876. He has been described as "a High-churchman of the old school," and he won distinction at Oxford as a vehement "champion of lost causes and impossible beliefs." He was the ablest and most learned as well as the bitterest adverse critic of the Revised New Testament and of the revised Greek text. His publications, including sermons, articles in the periodicals, and controversial tracts, were very numerous; among the most noteworthy of his books were: The Life and Times of Sir Thomas Gresham (2 vols., London, 1839); A Plain Commentary on the Four Holy Gospels (8 vols., 1855); Ninety Short Sermons for Family Reading (2 series, 307 each 2 vols., 1855, 1867); Historical Notices of the Colleges of Oxford (1857); Portrait of a Christian Gentleman, a Memoir of P. F. Tytler (1859); Inspiration and Interpretation, seven sermons in answer to Essays and Reviews (Oxford, 1861); The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel according to St. Mark Vindicated and Established (1871); The Revision Revised, articles reprinted from The Quarterly Review against the Revised Version of the New Testament (London, 1883); The Lives of Twelve Good Men (2 vols., 1888). The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels Vindicated and Established and Causes of the Corruption of the Traditional Text, edited by Edward Miller, appeared in 1896.

Bibliography: E. M. Goulburn, John W. Burgon: a Biography, with Letters and Journals, 2 vols., London, 1891; DNB, supplement vol. i, 335–338.