John Kenrick

John Kenrick, classical historian, was born on 4th February 1788 at Exeter, the eldest son of Timothy Kenrick, Unitarian minister, and his first wife, Mary, daughter of John Waymouth of Exeter. He was educated at the local grammar school run by the Rev Charles Lloyd and later at the nonconformist academy conducted by his father and the Rev Joseph Bretland.

In 1807, Kenrick matriculated at Glasgow University. He was the first prizeman in his class for three successive years, won the Gartmore gold medal for an essay on the English constitution in the Tudor period, and a silver medal for an essay on the aberration of light. He graduated MA in 1810.

Later that year, Kenrick became classics tutor at Manchester College, York. In 1819, he was given leave of absence to spend a sabbatical year in Germany, reading history at Göttingen. He returned to York in 1820 and began translating German classical works, including Zumpt's Latin Grammar, Rost and Wusteman’s Introduction to Greek Prose Composition and Matthiae's Greek Grammar.

In 1840, when the college returned to Manchester, Kenrick became professor of history a post he held until his retirement in 1850. He continued to live in York, and travelled to Manchester to deliver lectures. He published The Egypt of Herodotus (1841), Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs (1850), and Phoenicia (1855).

Several of his pupils became celebrated for their writing, most notably John James Tayler (1797–1869), James Martineau (1805–1900), and George Vance Smith (1816–1902).

Kenrick married Laetitia Wellbeloved on 13 August 1821. They had no children. He died on 7th May 1877 and was buried in York Cemetery. (Cemetery Road, York YO10 5AJ)