John Bacon (clerk)

John Bacon
Born 1738
Died 1816
London
Nationality British
Occupation Clerk
Church Church of England

John Bacon F.S.A.[1] (1738–1816), was a British clerk and editor, who edited a revised edition of John Ecton's Thesaurus. He spent much of his working life in the first-fruits department of the office Queen Anne's Bounty in the Temple, London.[2]

Career

His first appointment at the Temple was as junior clerk to the deputy remembrancer. Bacon rose to become the senior clerk in 1778 and the receiver in 1782, a position which he held until 1816.[3] With these offices he combined the duties of treasurer to the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy. He obtained the leasehold interest, under the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and chapter of St. Paul's, of the manor of Whetstone, or Friern Barnet, and when the Land Tax Redemption Act authorised them to effect a sale of their landed property, he purchased the reversion of the manor-house and the whole of their estate in the parish of Friern Barnet.

He is remembered by church antiquaries for his improved edition of Ecton's 'Thesaurus,' a detailed account of the valuations of all ecclesiastical benefices which were charged with first fruits and tenths. He was appointed a fellow of the Society of Arts (later the Royal Society of Arts in 1774.[1]

A description of the house and the curiosities which it contained may be found in Lysons's 'Environs of London,' ii. 22.

Death

He died in the manor-house 26 February 1816, and was buried in a small vault on the outside of the church. His tombstone in the churchyard records his second son and his son's wife; his only daughter, Maria, was married to Sir William Johnston, of that ilk, Aberdeenshire. His edition of the Liber regis, vel thesaurus rerum ecclesiasticarum was published in 1786,[4] and some severe comments were made at that time in the 'Gentleman's Magazine' on the omission of any mention in the title-page or the preface of the previous compilation of John Ecton.[1]

References

External links

 "Bacon, John (1738-1816)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 

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