Rev. William Wollaston, M.A.

  Notes:

Moral philosopher, author of ' Religion of Nature Delineated (1722 & 1724)' He owned Shenton Hall but lived in Charterhouse Sq. It is said that after his marriage he never spent one whole night away from his home.Went to London in 1689 and was engaged to a young woman who died of smallpox. Wiliam was very upset by this.His ethical doctrines influenced subsequent philosophy as well as that of his own time. Was a student at Sidney College, Cambridge from 18 Jun 1674 to 29 Sep 1681.After studies at the University of Cambridge (M.A.), William became a schoolteacher in Birmingham (1682) and soon afterward was ordained a priest. In 1688 he inherited the major part of his family's fortune from a cousin and was able to move toLondon to devote his life to scholarship and philosophy. There he and his wife lived a secluded life among a few friends; he wrote prolifically, but his exaggerated standards of taste caused him to destroy many of his manuscripts. His penchant for literary elegance is evident from his major work, 'The Religion of Nature Delineated ' (1724).Though some critics have seen seeds of some 20th-century ethical theories in his views, his theism was subjected to severe attacks by the end of the 18th century, notably by David Hume in his Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion (1779).Wollaston, William; BritannicaÆ CD 99, 1994-1999. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.There is an engraving by John Faberafter a sculpture by Michael Rysbrack . The caption on the print reads: "Done after the Marble Bust, in Her Majesty's Hermitage in the Royal Garden at Richmond." In 1730, Queen Caroline, consort of King George II, commissioned a garden Hermitage to unite the achievements of the scientists Robert Boyle and Isaac Newton, the philosopher John Locke, and the clergymen Samuel Clarke and William Wollaston.

  Death Notes:

or 29 Sept

  Events

• Occupation: Moral philosopher.

• Education: Shenton and Lichfield; Sidney Sussex College,Cambridge.

William married Catherine Charlton on 26 Nov 1689 in Aldersgate, St Ann. (Catherine Charlton was born in 1670 in London and died on 21 Jul 1720 in Charterhouse Sq., London.)

  Family Notes:

Chambers'states that there were 11 children.