Letters of James Tate

edited by L.P. Wenham (1966)

 

James Tate (1771-1843) was born at Richmond in Yorkshire on 11th June 1771, his father, Thomas, being a working maltster – a trade pursued by his father before him.

After attending Richmond School, Tate was accepted as amanuensis by Archdeacon Blackburne, Rector of Richmond. He went on to study at Cambridge and was ordained a deacon in 1794 and a priest in 1800. In 1796 Tate was elected Master of Richmond School, a position he held for 36 years. Two days after his appointment he married Margaret Wallis, daughter of Fielding Wallis, actor and his wife Jane. James and Margaret had eleven children; their eldest son, James, succeeded his father as Master of Richmond School in 1833.

Tate was a most voluminous and entertaining correspondent. This volume contains 124 letters from James Tate to four different correspondents: Mrs Sarah Otley (the mother of two of his fellow scholars at Richmond School), John Hutton (a friend from Richmond School and Cambridge), George Peacock (one of Tate’s pupils and later Dean on Ely) and Archdeacon Charles Wrangham.
The period covered is 1791 to 1843.