Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cardwell, Edward (1787-1861)

by Charles William Sutton

CARDWELL, EDWARD, D.D. (1787–1861), church historian, son of Richard Cardwell of Blackburn, Lancashire, was born in 1787. He entered in 1806 as a commoner at Brasenose College, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1809. He took his M.A. in 1812. The degree of B.D. was conferred on him in 1819 and that of D.D. in 1831. For several years he acted as tutor and lecturer, and from 1814 to 1821 was one of the university examiners, and during part of the time had John Keble as a colleague. In 1818 he was appointed Whitehall preacher by Bishop Howley, and in 1823 select preacher to the university of Oxford. He was elected Camden professor of ancient history in 1826, and succeeded Archbishop Whately in 1831 as principal of St. Alban Hall, Oxford. Soon after this appointment he resigned the living of Stoke-Bruern, Northamptonshire, to which he had been presented by Brasenose College in 1828. He subsequently declined the offer of the rectory of Withyham, and in 1844 refused the deanery of Carlisle offered to him by Sir Robert Peel. He was delegate of estates, delegate of the press, and curator of university galleries. He was considered one of the best men of business in the university, and for many years had a leading share in its government. The management of the bible department of the university press was left mainly in his hands, and by his advice the paper mill at Wolvercot was established. This was done in order that the authorities might be certain as to the materials used in making the paper supplied to the university press. Lord Grenville, the Duke of Wellington, and Lord Derby, as they successively became chancellors of the university, appointed him to act as their private secretary. He was a personal friend of Sir Robert Peel and Mr. Gladstone, and was a member of the Society of Antiquaries and other learned bodies.

His literary works were:

1. An edition of Aristotle's 'Ethica,' Oxford, 1828-30, 8vo, 2 vols.
2. 'A Sermon preached at Northampton,' Oxford, 1832, 8vo.
3. 'Lectures on the Coinage of the Greeks and Romans,' 1833, 8vo (delivered by him as Camden professor).
4. An 'Enchiridion Theologicum Anti-Romanum,' in 3 vols., 8vo, being reprints of tracts on points at issue between the churches of England and Rome, 1836-7.
5. A useful student's edition of the 'New Testament in Greek and English,' with notes, 1837.
6. 'Josephus de Bello Judaico,' in Greek and Latin, 1837, 8vo, 2 vols., a corrected text with various readings and notes.
   7. 'The supposed Visit of St. Paul to England, a Lecture delivered in the University of Oxford,' 1837.

Cardwell subsequently turned his attention more especially to the annals of the English church, and formed the plan of a synodical history grounded upon Wilkins's 'Concilia Magnæ Britanniæ.' He carried out the project in part in the publication of several of the following works:

8. 'Documentary Annals of the Reformed Church of England; being a Collection of Injunctions, Declarations, Orders, Articles of Inquiry, &c., from 1546 to 1716, with notes,' Oxford, 1839, 2 vols. 8vo.
9. 'A Relation of the Conference between William Laud and Fisher the Jesuit,' 1839, 8vo, with preface.
10. 'The Two Books of Common Prayer set forth in the Reign of Edward the Sixth compared with each other,' 1839, 8vo.
11. 'A History of the Conferences and other Proceedings connected with the Revision of the Book of Common Prayer from 1668 to 1690,' 1840, 8vo.
12. 'Synodalia: a Collection of Articles of Religion, Canons, and Proceedings of Convocation in the Province of Canterbury from 1547 to 1717, with notes, &c.,' 1842, 8vo, 2 vols.
13. 'Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum, or the Reformation of the Ecclesiastical Laws for the Church of England as attempted in the reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI, and Queen Elizabeth,' 1850, 8vo.
14. An edition of Bishop Gibson's 'Synodus Anglicana,' which he brought out in 1864.

Cardwell died at the principal's lodge, St. Alban Hall, Oxford, on 23 May 1861. He married in May 1829 Cecilia, youngest daughter of Henry Feilden of Witton Park, Blackburn, and left several children. He was uncle to Edward, lord Cardwell [q. v.]

[Gent. Mag. August 1861, p. 208; Foster's Lancashire Pedigrees; Cat. of Oxford Graduates (1851); Oxford Honours Register (1883); information given by Mr. E. H. Cardwell.]

C. W. S.

Dictionary of National Biography, Errata (1904), p.53
N.B.— f.e. stands for from end and l.l. for last line

Page	Col.	Line
42	ii	17	Cardwell, Edward, D.D.: for 1826 read 1825
43	i	9	omit of several