Reverend Samuel Burslem, M.A.

In the mid-18th century, the English Midlands were home to a class of clerical scholars who balanced the spiritual needs of their parishes with the rigorous intellectual demands of classical education. Reverend Samuel Burslem was a quintessential figure of this era. An Oxford-educated divine and "eminent" Latin master, Burslem’s legacy is defined by his half-century of ecclesiastical service and his role in shaping the early education of one of Britain’s most iconic historical figures, Robert Clive.

Academic Foundations and Holy Orders

The son of Thomas Burslem, Samuel followed the traditional path of the scholarly gentry. He matriculated at the University of Oxford on April 17, 1719, entering Brasenose College. He earned his Bachelor of Arts on February 21, 1723, and was ordained a Priest on July 4, 1725, in Eccleshall by Edward Charles, the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield.

Burslem immediately entered a life of active pluralism. On July 5, 1725, he was appointed Curate of the Fradswell Chapel in Colwich while concurrently serving as Curate of Milwich. Despite these duties, his commitment to academia remained; he received his Master of Arts from Oxford on July 5, 1726.

The Eminent Master of Market Drayton

In 1729, Burslem was appointed Chief Master of the Grammar School in Drayton in Hales (Market Drayton), Shropshire, upon the resignation of John Addenbroke. It was here that he earned his reputation for being "eminent in the Latin tongue."

Burslem’s most famous pupil, Robert Clive (Lord Clive of India), was placed under his control for several years. While Burslem's rigorous Latin instruction was highly regarded, the future general's volatile nature eventually proved incompatible with the school’s discipline, leading to a historic expulsion.

A Career of Patronage and Pluralism

Burslem’s ecclesiastical career was marked by steady patronage. In September 1730, he was appointed Vicar in Drayton in Hales under the patronage of Robert Corbett, Bart. By June 12, 1735, he became the Rector of Norton in Hales, a post he vacated by promotion in 1747.

He spent the later portion of his life in Etwall, Derbyshire, where he was appointed Vicar on November 21, 1747, under the patronage of Rowland Cotton. His social and spiritual influence peaked in 1767, when he was named Master of Etwall Hospital, an appointment reflecting his status as a trusted elder of the community.

Family and Intellectual Pursuit

Burslem’s domestic life was one of both vast progeny and the persistent grief of the era. Married to Sarah (who died July 27, 1760), he was the father to at least fifteen children. Among them was the Reverend William Burslem, who would carry the family’s clerical banner into the 19th century.

An intellectual to the end, Samuel was a frequent "subscriber" to the great publications of the Enlightenment, including Wellins Calcott’s Thoughts Moral and Divine and William Lewis’s 1767 translation of The Thebaid of Statius.

Reverend Samuel Burslem died on October 19, 1785. He was returned to Drayton in Hales for burial, ending a life that bridged the worlds of the Oxford scholar, the strict grammarian, and the devoted village priest.

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