James Anthony Froude

Mark Nixon (University of Reading)
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James Froude was born in 1818 in Devon, the son of Robert Hurrell, archdeacon of Totnes. He was a brother of the Oxford divine Richard Hurrell Froude, a leading High Churchman and Tractarian; another brother, William, was a leading Victorian engineer. After study at Exeter College, he took orders in 1844 and seemed to be following his elder brother in religious matters, contributing to Newman's

Lives of the Saints

. However, apparently due to the study of Spinoza, he began to have religious doubts, particularly with respect to the visible church, changes which he announced in his novel

The Nemesis of Faith

(1849). This tells the story of a young man led astray by tractarianism and caused a scandal; Froude was forced to resign from his fellowship at Exeter College after copies of the book…

977 words

Citation: Nixon, Mark. "James Anthony Froude". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 20 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4906, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4906 James Anthony Froude 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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