Life
The son of Cornelius van Mildert, a gin distiller, and his wife Martha née Hill, he was educated at St Saviour's Grammar School, Merchant Taylors' School (then in London) and the Queen's College, Oxford. Loosely attached to the high church party, he was appointed Bishop of Llandaff from 1819 to 1826, a post which he held in commendam with the Deanery of St Paul's between 1820 and 1826, when he was translated to Durham. Prior to this, he had been rector of the church of St. Mary-le-Bow in London and Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, where he gave the Bampton Lectures for 1814. Van Mildert is often described as a 'stormy petrel' on account of his outspoken expression of his views. He showed little interest in his poorly remunerated Welsh episcopal appointment
As part of the University of Durham's foundation, behind which he was the driving force, he moved his residence from Durham Castle to Lumley Castle. He gifted the castle to the University, where it became the home of University College. In addition, he gifted a large number of buildings on Palace Green, between the Castle and the Cathedral. These are currently in use by various departments of the University (principally law, music and a small portion of the University Library).
Read more about this topic: William Van Mildert
Famous quotes containing the word life:
“Whenever [Leonard Bernstein] entered or exited a country he would fill in on his passport form not composer or conductor, but musician. Of course people in the press spent a lot of Lenny’s life telling him what he should have done; he should have been a concert pianist, he should have composed more.... And people wouldn’t let him live his own life. But he created his own career, in his own image.”
—John Mauceri (b. 1945)
“I felt more than ever the necessity of my mission. But I went home out of spirits, I hardly know why. I must work by myself all life long.”
—Elizabeth Blackwell (1821–1910)