Robert Thistlethwayte (baptized 16 December 1690 – c. January, 1744) was the third son of Francis Thistlethwayte (b. 1658) of Winterslow, Wiltshire.[1] He was a Warden of Wadham College, Oxford and a clergyman in the Church of England.[2]

In 1737 Thistlethwayte fled to Boulogne after being accused of making homosexual advances towards a student, William French, whose tutor John Swinton was also accused of homosexual practices. Satirical poetry was written about these events.[3] The following limerick probably also refers to Thistlethwayte:[4]

There once was a Warden of Wadham
Who approved of the folkways of Sodom,
For a man might, he said,
Have a very poor head
But be a fine Fellow, at bottom.

Allegations of homosexual behaviour, which was considered scandalous at that time, and the College's decision to take out fire insurance combined to prompt the following verse:

Well did the am'rous sone of Wadham
Insure their house 'gainst future flame;
They knew their crime, the crime of Sodom,
And judg'd their punishment the same.

References

  1. ↑ http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/74037 National Biography: Thistlethwayte, Robert
  2. ↑ "Wadham College | British History Online".
  3. ↑ Norton, Rictor (5 June 2004). "The State of Rome, 1739". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
  4. ↑ Norton, Rictor (1998). "Bawdy Limericks". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
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