Thomas Traherne

David Reid (University of Stirling)
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Thomas Traherne was born in 1637, the son of a shoemaker. He and his brother Philip were probably orphaned young and taken into the care of a relative, Philip Traherne, twice mayor of Hereford. He received good enough schooling to go up to Brasenose College, Oxford, where, in 1656, he graduated MA. In 1657 he was appointed to the parish of Credenhill by the Commisioners for the Approbation of Public Preachers. At the Restoration, however, Traherne had himself ordained by a bishop before he was required to do so, thereafter supporting the Episcopal establishment of the Church of England and disapproving of dissent. In doing this Traherne was changing his clerical cloth at a time when it was to his advantage to do so, although, to be fair to Traherne, he did thereafter associate with…

821 words

Citation: Reid, David. "Thomas Traherne". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5007, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5007 Thomas Traherne 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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