Thomas Tregenna Biddulph (1763–1838) was an English cleric, a leadingevangelical in theBristol area. He particularly opposed the evangelical secession around George Baring (1781–1854), the "western Schism".[1]
He was the only son of the Rev. Thomas Biddulph by his first wife, Martha, daughter and coheir of Rev. John Tregenna, rector ofMawgan inCornwall, and was born atClaines, Worcestershire, 5 July 1763; his father became in 1770 the vicar ofPadstow in Cornwall. He was educated atTruro grammar school, and aged 17 matriculated atThe Queen's College, Oxford (23 November 1780). He took his degrees of B.A. and M.A. in 1784 and 1787, respectively.[2]
Biddulph was ordained deacon byJohn Ross,Bishop of Exeter, 26 September 1785, was licensed to the curacy of Padstow, and preached his first sermon in its church. After holding numerous curacies he became the incumbent ofBengeworth nearEvesham in 1793. He retained this living for ten years, but mostly resided in Bristol, and it was as the incumbent from 1799 to 1838 ofSt. James's, Bristol, that his reputation as a preacher and a parish priest was acquired.[2]
With ideas that were at first unpopular in Bristol, in time Biddulph became accepted. He died at St. James's Square, Bristol, 19 May 1838, and was buried 29 May.[2] His monument in St James' Church Bristol was carved byEdward Hodges Baily.[3]
He sharedHutchinsonian views withWilliam Romaine.[1]
A lengthy catalogue of Biddulph's writings is inBibliotheca Cornubiensis. All his works were of evangelical doctrine and theology; he engaged in controversy withJohn Hey,Richard Warner, andRichard Mant. A periodical called at firstZion's Trumpet, then known for many years under asThe Christian Guardian,' was set up him in 1798.[2]
Among his other works, Biddulph authored,The Theology of the Early Patriarchs, Illustrated by an Appeal to Subsequent Parts of the Holy Scriptures (1825).
Biddulph's wife Rachel, daughter of Zachariah Shrapnel, whom he married atBradford, Wiltshire, 19 February 1789. His brother-in-law was Lt.-Gen.Henry Shrapnel, inventor of theshrapnel shell.[4]
He died at St. James's Square, Bristol, 10 August 1828.[2]
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Biddulph, Thomas Tregenna".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co. <
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