Edmund Roberts Larken (1809–1895) was an English cleric and Christian socialist, a patron of radical causes and author on social matters. Along with other unconventional views, he was noted as possibly the first parish priest of his time to wear a beard.[1]

Life

Larken's father, Edmund Larken (1766–1831[2]), worked for the East India Company. His sister Eliza married William Monson, 6th Baron Monson;[3] his brother Arthur Staunton Larken (1816–1889), the third son, was known as an officer of arms, becoming Portcullis Pursuivant and then Richmond Herald.[4]

Larken matriculated at Trinity College, Oxford in 1829, graduating B.A. in 1833, and M.A. in 1836.[5][6] He was ordained deacon in 1833, and priest in 1834. At Oxford he considered himself a follower of Richard Whateley.[7][8] He became rector of Burton by Lincoln, remaining there from 1843 to 1895; he was presented to the living by his brother-in-law Lord Monson.[7] In an invasion scare in 1859, a Lincolnshire rifle corps was raised and Larken was chaplain in it.[9] An unsuccessful campaign was mounted for him to become Dean of Lincoln in 1860.[10]

Interests

Larken was interested in the socialist ideas of Charles Fourier, including an account of them with one of his sermons in 1842.[11] He collaborated with John Minter Morgan on schemes for village settlement.[12] In 1847 he became chairman of a building society, of which George Boole was a director.[13] Larken and Boole also worked together in the 1850s on a plan to reduce the impact of prostitution in Lincoln.[14] Other involvements were with the Leeds Redemption Society and a co-operative flour mill.[7]

Larken worked with Matilda Mary Hays and Elizabeth Ann Ashurst on a project to translate George Sand's works into English. It came to an end in 1847 due to lack of support.[1][15] He joined the Social Reform League in 1850 and the Association for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge in 1851.[16] He associated with the radicals of his time, and backed The Leader financially. At his house Thomas Archer Hirst encountered George Holyoake.[17]

Works

  • Sermons on the Commandments (1837)[18]
  • A sermon preached at Horbling, Lincolnshire, in obedience to the Queen's letter in behalf of the distressed manufacturers, on Sunday, July 24, 1842. With an appendix containing a sketch of the industrial system of Fourier (1842)[19]
  • The necessity of toleration to the exercise of private judgment, a sermon (1847)[20]
  • The Miller of Angibault (1847), translated from George Sand, edited by Matilda Hays.[21]

Family

Larken's eldest son was a medical doctor in the Indian Army, dying at age 26.[22] The third son (born 1844) was Francis Roper,[23] who was the father of Vice-Admiral Sir Frank Larken[24] and Hubert Larken, the Archdeacon of Lincoln.[25] Other children included daughters Annie Frances[26] and Henrietta.[27]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 Rosemary Ashton, G. H. Lewes: An unconventional Victorian (2000), pp. 88–9.
  2. ↑ Archives, The National. "The Discovery Service". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  3. ↑ Mosley, Charles (ed.) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, volume 2. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003. p. 2741
  4. ↑ "Richmond Herald | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
  5. ↑ Foster, Joseph (1888–1892). "Larken, Edmund Roberts" . Alumni Oxonienses: the Members of the University of Oxford, 1715–1886. Oxford: Parker and Co – via Wikisource.
  6. ↑ Literary Gazette 4 June 1836; Google Books.
  7. 1 2 3 Hill, pp. 149–50; Google Books.
  8. ↑ "Larken, Edmund Roberts (1833–1835) (CCEd Person ID 69313)". The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540–1835. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  9. ↑ Hill, p. 76; Google Books.
  10. ↑ Hill, p. 260; Google Books.
  11. ↑ Hock Guan Tjoap, George Henry Lewes: a Victorian mind (1977), p. 22; Google Books.
  12. ↑ Francis Barrymore Smith, Radical Artisan: William James Linton, 1812-97 (1973), p. 94; Google Books.
  13. ↑ Hill, p. 130 and note; Google Books.
  14. ↑ Hill, p. 138 note 4; Google Books.
  15. ↑ "George Sand Association, Bibliography of Works in Translation". Archived from the original on 8 February 2012.
  16. ↑ Edward Royle, Victorian Infidels: the origins of the British secularist movement, 1791-1866 (1974), p. 149 and p. 146; Google Books.
  17. ↑ James A. Secord, Victorian Sensation: the extraordinary publication, reception, and secret authorship of Vestiges of the natural history of creation (2000), p. 483; Google Books.
  18. ↑ Burton-by-Lincoln.), Edmund Roberts Larken (M A. , Rector of (30 November 1837). "Sermons on the Commandments" – via Google Books.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ "IISH catalogue entry".
  20. ↑ Larken, Edmund Roberts (30 November 1847). "The necessity of toleration to the exercise of private judgment, a sermon" – via Google Books.
  21. ↑ Samuel Halkett, John Laing, A Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain. Including the Works of Foreigners Written in, or Translated into the English Language vol. 2 (1883, 2006 reprint), cols. 1616–7; Google Books.
  22. ↑ "Roll of Honour - Lincolnshire - Burton by Lincoln, St Vincent's Church". www.roll-of-honour.com.
  23. ↑ Cuthbert Wilfrid Whitaker, A register of S. Nicholas College, Lancing, from its foundation at Shoreham in August, 1848 to the commencement of the month of November, 1900 (c. 1900), p. 58; archive.org.
  24. ↑ "Obituary: Admiral Sir Frank Larken – The War Against Turkey 1915–18". The Times. 22 January 1853.
  25. ↑ Arthur Charles Fox-Davies, Armorial Families: a directory of gentlemen of coat-armour vol. 2 (1905), p. 1134; archive.org.
  26. ↑ Pine, L. G. (ed.) Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 17th edition. (London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1952), p. 1940
  27. ↑ Townend, Peter. Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry, 18th edition. volume 3. (London: Burke's Peerage Ltd, 1965–1972) p. 617
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