Charles Hall (priest)

Charles Henry Hall (* 1763, † March 16, 1827 in Edinburgh ) was a British Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. From 1809 to 1824 he held the office of the Dean of Christ Church (Oxford).

Life

Hall was the eldest son of Charles Hall (1718-1774), Dean of Bocking ( Essex ) and chaplain at Archbishop Thomas Secker, and his wife Elizabeth born Carsan. From 1773 to 1779 he attended the Westminster School in London; then he studied at Christ Church College in Oxford, where he won several academic awards. In 1783 he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts, 1786 Master of Arts, 1794 Bachelor of Divinity in 1800 and Doctor of Divinity.

The former Dean of Christ Church, Cyril Jackson (1746-1819), Hall estimated initially very so he could climb quickly to the ecclesiastical and academic hierarchy. After ordination as a deacon (1786 ) and Priest (1788 ), he became chaplain to the Bishop of Bristol in 1794 and Vicar of Broughton -in- Airedale (Yorkshire ), 1798 Präbendar from Exeter ( Devon ), 1799 Rector of Kirk Bramwith (Yorkshire ) and canons of Christ Church (Oxford), and in 1804 Vicar of Luton ( Bedfordshire ). At Oxford University, he served from 1792 to 1794 as a tutor and censor at Christ Church College ( where Lord Liverpool was one of his students ) and 1793 Junior Proctor of All Souls College, 1798 he held the Bampton Lectures, an organized annual theological lecture series, in 1805 he was sent to Christ Church Subdean and 1807 - by influencing the Prime Minister Lord Grenville - Regius Professor of Theology. However, due to its " sterile and boring" lectures he soon lost Jackson's benevolence, so he endeavored to another position at Lord Liverpool. On Liverpool's recommendation he was Jackson's successor in 1809 as dean of Christ Church.

Although he tried to imitate his authoritarian predecessor in gait and clothing, to Hall proved in his new role as a guide weak. Also the favor of Lord Liverpool, he forfeited to the end of 1809, when he in choosing the university chancellor - who applied for the post Lord Liverpool and Lord Grenville, two conveyors Halls - caught in a conflict of loyalties and remained neutral. Further damage took his reputation by a scandal at Christ Church College, in which his eldest son was involved, and especially by the extravagance of his wife, who brought him into greater debt. Hall asked Lord Liverpool (now prime minister) several times a financially more profitable episcopate, but he refused because of Hall's personal situation. As 1824 is also highly doped deanery of Durham was free, Lord Liverpool appointed him to this position.

1827, Hall went because of an acute attack of fever for medical treatment to Edinburgh, where he died in a hotel at the age of 63 years. He left behind a debt of 35,800 pounds.

Family

Hall was since 1794 with Anna Maria Bridget Byng ( 1771-1852 ), a daughter of John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington later, married. From the marriage ten children were born, four of whom died young:

Publications

• On the Use of medals. In: The Oxford English Prize Essays, vol 1 (Oxford 1830)
• Sermons Preached before the University of Oxford, at St. Mary's Church, in the Year MDCCXCVIII, at the Lecture Founded by the Rev. John Bampton, MA (Oxford, 1799)
• A Sermon Preached before the Honourable House of Commons at the Church of St. Margaret, Westminster, on Wednesday, February 20, 1805, Being the Day Appointed for a General Fast (London 1805)
• A Sermon Preached in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, on Thursday, June 1, 1815, Being the Time of the Yearly Meeting of the Children Educated in the Charity Schools in and about the Cities of London and Westminster. In: The Annual Report of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge for the Year 1815 (London 1816)