Thomas Dudley Fosbroke


Thomas Dudley Fosbroke FSA was an English clergyman and antiquary. He was curate of Horsley, Gloucestershire, until 1810 and then of Walford in Herefordshire. He wrote British Monachism, an examination English monastic life, as well as the Encyclopaedia of Antiquities and its sequel, Foreign Topography. He was an important historian of Gloucester, writing two volumes on the history of that city.

Early life and education

Fosbroke was born in London on 27 May 1770. He was educated at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon,, St Paul's School and Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating MA in 1792.

Career

In 1792 he was ordained and became curate of Horsley, Gloucestershire, where he remained till 1810. He then removed to Walford in Herefordshire, and remained there the rest of his life, as curate until 1830, and afterwards as vicar.
In 1799 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. His first important work, British Monachism, was a compilation, from manuscripts in the British Museum and Bodleian libraries, of facts relating to English monastic life. The work for which he is best remembered, the Encyclopaedia of Antiquities, appeared in 1824. A sequel to this, Foreign Topography, was published in 1828.

Death

Fosbroke died on 1 January 1842.

Selected publications