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Francis Blomefield

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"Blomefield" redirects here. For the surname, seeBlomefield (surname).

The likeness of Blomefield depicted in the form of the astronomerJohn Flamsteed,whom he was said to resemble, 1805[note 1]

Rev.Francis Blomefield(23 July 1705 – 16 January 1752),FSA,Rector ofFersfieldin Norfolk, was an Englishantiquarianwho wrote acounty historyofNorfolk:An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk.It includes detailed accounts of the City ofNorwich,theBoroughofThetfordand all parishes in the southernmostHundreds of Norfolk,but he died before completing it. This was done by a friend, Rev.Charles Parkin.The Norfolk historianWalter Ryerelated that although no portrait of him was known to exist, Blomefield closely resembled the astronomerJohn Flamsteed,whose portrait was used to depict Blomefield on thefrontispieceof one of his volumes.[1]His history of Norfolk was reissued in London in 11 volumes by William Miller in 1805–1810, the last seven being by Parkin.[2]

Origins[edit]

Francis Blomefield was born in the parish ofFersfieldin the south ofNorfolkon 23 July 1705,[3]the eldest son of Henry Blomefield (1680-1732) of Winley Wood and Marketfield (free tenements which he purchased in 1724)[4]within that parish and manor. He was described by the Norfolk historianWalter Ryeas "a gentleman of independent means" and held a share of theadvowsonof Fersfield, to which he presented his son in 1729.[5]His mother was Alice Batch (1677–1729), the daughter and heiress of John Batch, ofKing's Lynn[6]in Norfolk. The Blomefield family had been established at Fersfield for at least six generations and claimed descent from Sir Henry Broumflete / Bromefilde, sent in 1433 by King Henry VI as one of the delegation to theCouncil of Basle.[7]

Career[edit]

Blomefield was educated at thegrammar schoolsatDissandThetfordin Norfolk.[1]In April 1724 he was admitted toCaius College,Cambridge,where he graduated with aBachelor of Artsdegree in 1727 and aMaster of Artsdegree in 1728.[1][8]He was ordained a priest on 27 July 1729 byThomas Tanner,then Chancellor of the Diocese of Norwich,[9]laterBishop of St Asaph.Two days later, on 29 July 1729 he was appointed Rector ofHarghamin Norfolk, by the patron Thomas Hare, and shortly afterwards on 13 September 1729 was appointed by his father, whose turn it was at that time aspatron,[5]as Rector ofFersfield.[3]

As a boy of 15, Blomefield began recording monumental inscriptions from churches he visited in Norfolk,Suffolkand laterCambridgeshire.[1]Whilst at college, he also keptgenealogicalandheraldicnotes on local families. Soon after leaving university, he was collecting materials for an account of the antiquities of Cambridgeshire, but in 1732, this project was deferred when he was given access to theantiquaryPeter Le Neve's collection of materials for the history of Norfolk by Le Neve's executor"Honest Tom" Martin.

A map of thehundredsofNorfolkduring the 19th century

In July 1733, Blomefield published his proposals forAn Essay towards a Topographical History of Norfolk.While collecting information for his history, he discovered some of thePaston Letters.By 1736, he was ready to begin putting the results of his researches into type,[3]assisted by his friendCharles Parkin,Rector ofOxborough.[10]At the end of 1739, the first volume of Blomefield’sHistory of Norfolkwas completed; it was printed using hispressatFersfield,acquired for the purpose. The second volume, consisting of a detailed history ofNorwich,was begun in 1741 and completed by 1745.[3]The production of this volume took more than four years, and Blomefield seems to have lived in the city while it was being printed.[1]

In 1751, Blomefield publishedCollectanea Cantabrigiensia,hisCambridgeshirenotes. A fire is said to have destroyed the press and printing room, along with all the copies of his first volume, forcing Blomefield to start his work again.[1]

He encountered many problems with his printers and engravers, and temporarily lost his notes for the volume about Diss Hundred when they were sent away for correction.[1]He was two-thirds through his third volume of the history of Norfolk and had covered about 40 per cent of the county, when he contractedsmallpoxon a visit to London and died in Fersfield in January 1752.[3]

Marriage and issue[edit]

On 1 September 1732, Blomefield married Mary Womock, daughter of Rev. Lawrence Womock, Rector of Castor by Yarmouth in Norfolk and Vicar of Buxton, a cousin ofLawrence Womock,Bishop of St Davids.[9]An earlier Lawrence "Womack" had been Rector of Fersfield in 1609–1642, being preceded as such by Henry Womack and succeeded by Arthur Womack. By his wife Francis Blomefield had three daughters, two of whom survived to adulthood,.[1]The four included Elizabeth Blomefield (born 1733), and Alice Blomefield (1735–1735), who died in infancy.[9]

Succession[edit]

In 1871, Blomefield's property – worth more than £7000 – was inherited by a distant cousin, Rev.Leonard Jenyns,a clergyman andnaturalist.It included 140 acres (57 hectares) of land near the town of Diss in Norfolk. As a condition of inheritance, Jenyns was required to change his surname to Blomefield.[citation needed]

Completion of theHistory of Norfolk[edit]

The history of the remaining areas of Norfolk was completed by Blomefield's friend, the Rev.Charles Parkinin 1753–1765, but not in Blomefield's detailed and accurate manner. The remainder of volume 3 and two further volumes were published inKing's Lynnbetween 1769 and 1775. The entire work was subsequently reprinted in 11quartovolumes by the London publisherWilliam Millerin London between 1805 and 1810.[11]

According to Rye, Parkin died before the volumes were sent to be published – they had to be completed by "some bookseller's hack" in King's Lynn.[1]

Assessment[edit]

Blomefield'sHistory of Norfolkwas both detailed and largely reliable and comparable with the bestcounty historiesof the period. There is little doubt that in compiling his book Blomefield had frequent recourse to existing historical collections of the antiquaryPeter Le Neve,John Kirkpatrick of Norwich and theBishop of St Asaph,Thomas Tanner,his own work being to some extent one of expansion and addition, despite some extensive collections of his own.[3]

According to Rye, writing for theDictionary of National Biographyin 1886, Blomefield's volumes are "an enduring monument of hard disinterested work, for it was wholly a labour of love, and as far as the facts chronicled it is usually very trustworthy." However, Rye also noted that Blomefield believed – and published – the fabricated accounts in a series of family histories, and that the work contained numerous errors, lacked details and failed to provide accurateetymologicaldefinitions.[1]

David Stoker, writing for the revisedOxford Dictionary of National Biographyin 2004, felt that Rye had treated Blomefield's reputation "shabbily", emphasising his personal failings and the inevitable errors and misinterpretations in his history. Stoker concludes, "Given the period and circumstances in which [Blomefield] was at work, and the immensity of his task, his was a great achievement. His weakness was in underestimating what he had taken on. There has as yet been no other history of Norfolk on a comparable scale, and it remains the standard work."[12]

Hassell Smith and Roger Virgoe in 1994 saw Blomefield'sHistory"one of the great county histories and... still the only major history of Norfolk.... [T]he volumes on Norwich still remain the fullest account of the development of the institutions and antiquities, secular and ecclesiastical, of the city."[2]

Works[edit]

An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolkcontaining a description of the towns, villages and hamlets, with the foundations of monasteries, churches, chapels, chantries, and other religious buildings, and an account of the ancient and present state of all the rectories, vicarages, donatives and impropriations, their former and present patrons and incumbents with their several valuations in the king's books whether discharged or not; likewise, an historical account of the castles, seats and manors, their present and ancient owners together with the epitaphs, inscriptions, and arms, in all the parish churches and chapels with several draughts of churches, monuments, arms, ancient ruins and other relicks of antiquity collected out of ledger books, registers, records, evidences, deeds, court rolls and other authentick memorials.
11 volumes published by William Miller, 1805–1810:

Notes[edit]

  1. ^No true portrait of Blomefield exists. The portrait of Flamsteed was included as thefrontispieceto the first volume of thequartoedition ofAn Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk(1805), with an appropriate disclaimer.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefghijkRye 1886,p. 226–228.
  2. ^abSmith & Virgoe 1994,pp. 282–283.
  3. ^abcdefChisholm 1911.
  4. ^Blomefield 1805,pp. 92–93.
  5. ^abBlomefield 1805,p. 101.
  6. ^Rye 1886,p. 226–28.
  7. ^Blomefield 1805,p. 100–01.
  8. ^"Blomefield, Francis (BLMT724F)".A Cambridge Alumni Database.University of Cambridge.Retrieved9 September2022.
  9. ^abcBlomefield 1805,pp. 100–101.
  10. ^"Parkin, Charles".Dictionary of National Biography.London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  11. ^Stoker 2019,pp. 224–230.
  12. ^Stoker 2004.

Sources[edit]

External links to works[edit]

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Francis Blomefield
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