John Prideaux Lightfoot

John Prideaux Lightfoot

John Prideaux Lightfoot, D.D. (23 March 1803 – 23 March 1887) was an English clergyman who served as the Rector of Exeter College, Oxford from 18 March 1854 until his death^[1] and as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University from 1862 to 1866.^[2] He was the President of the Oxford Architectural Society (later the Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society) from November 1854 to November 1855.^[3]

John Prideaux Lightfoot was born 23 March 1803 at Crediton, Devon, England. He was the eldest son of Nicholas Lightfoot (1772–1847) and his wife Bridget Prideaux. Lightfoot married Elizabeth Ann Le Blanc on 15 July 1835 at St Luke's Church, Chelsea;^[4] they had eight children.^[5] His first wife died 31 November 1860 at Oxford, aged 50.^[6] He was married a second time on 7 January 1863 to Louisa, only daughter of Sir George Best Robinson, 2nd Baronet, widow of Capt. C. R. G. Douglas, B.N.I.^[7] They had one daughter.^[5]

Lightfoot succeeded Joseph Loscombe Richards as Rector of Exeter, or head of the college, while Sir George Gilbert Scott's proposal for a new chapel inspired by the Sainte Chapelle in Paris was under consideration. The building programme during Lightfoot's tenure also included the Gothic revival library of 1856 and new Rector's lodgings in the Georgian style (1857).^[8][9] In 1886, Lightfoot commissioned the Adoration of the Magi tapestry from Edward Burne-Jones and William Morris, both alumni of Exeter, to be hung in the chapel. The completed tapestry was presented to the College in 1890, three years after Prideaux's death at the Rectory at Exeter on 23 March 1887.^[10]

References

1. "Exeter College". A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3. The University of Oxford (1954). pp. 107–118. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
2. Morrell, Jack (2005). Notes to Chapter 13. John Phillips and the Business of Victorian Science (Ashgate Publishing, Ltd). ISBN 978-1-84014-239-6. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
3. "Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society past presidents". Archived from the original on June 24, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
4. The Christian remembrancer (1835), p. 513
5. "John Prideaux Lightfoot". RootsWeb. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
6. v.209 July–December, 1860. The Gentleman's Magazine (F. Jefferies). 1860.
7. v. 214 January-June 1863. The Gentleman's Magazine (F. Jefferies). 1863.
8. Nikolaus Pevsner and Jennifer Sherwood: The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1974 pp. 136–7.
9. "A Sermon Preached at Evensong in Exeter College at the Service to Celebrate the Restoration of the Chapel" (PDF). 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
10. Stephen Wildman: Edward Burne-Jones: Victorian Artist-Dreamer, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998, ISBN 0-87099-859-5, pp. 293–294