View source for Charles Lyttelton (bishop)

{{Short description|English churchman and antiquary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = bishop
| name = Charles Lyttelton
| image = Charles Lyttelton.jpg
| alt =
| caption =
| province =
| diocese = [[Diocese of Carlisle|Carlisle]]
| see =
| elected =
| term_start = 1762
| term_end = 1768
| predecessor = [[Richard Osbaldeston]]
| successor = [[Edmund Law]]
| ordination = 1742
| consecration = 21 March 1762
| consecrated_by =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year|1714}}
| birth_place = [[Hagley]], [[Worcestershire]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1768|12|22|1714|df=y}}
| death_place = [[London]], [[England]]
| buried = St John the Baptist Church, Hagley
| residence =
| parents = [[Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th Baronet]] (father)
| spouse =
| children =
| alma_mater = [[Eton College]], [[University College, Oxford]]
| motto =
| signature =
| coat_of_arms =
| honorific_prefix = [[The Right Reverend]]
| religion = [[Church of England]]
| term = 1762–1768
}}
'''Charles Lyttelton''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS|FSA}} (1714–1768) was an English churchman and [[antiquarian|antiquary]] from the [[Lyttelton family]], who served as [[Bishop of Carlisle]] from 1762 to 1768 and President of the [[Society of Antiquaries of London]] from 1765 to 1768.
==Life==
Lyttelton was the third son of [[Sir Thomas Lyttelton, 4th Baronet]], by his wife Christian, daughter of [[Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet]] of [[Stowe, Buckinghamshire|Stowe]], Buckinghamshire. He was born at [[Hagley]], Worcestershire, and educated at [[Eton College]] and [[University College, Oxford]], where he matriculated on 10 October 1732, and graduated B.C.L. March 1745, D.C.L. June 1745. He was called to the bar at the [[Middle Temple]] in 1738, but soon abandoned it for the church, being ordained in 1742.
Almost immediately (13 August 1743) he was instituted to the rectory of [[Alvechurch]], Worcestershire. Through his family influence he was made chaplain to [[George II of Great Britain|George II]] in December 1747, installed as [[Dean of Exeter]] on 4 June 1748, and collated to a prebendal stall in [[Exeter Cathedral]] on 5 May 1748. In 1761 the Dean describes the cathedral library as having over 6,000 books and some good manuscripts. He describes the work which has been done to repair and list the contents of the manuscripts. At the same time the muniments and records had been cleaned and moved to a suitable muniment room. [[George Grenville]], a cousin, pressed for Lyttelton's advancement. He was promoted to the see of Carlisle, and was consecrated in [[Whitehall Chapel]] on 21 March 1762, but his health was not good. He died unmarried in Clifford Street, London, on 22 December 1768, and was buried at [[St John the Baptist Church, Hagley]], on 30 December. The chancel of that church had been ornamented in 1764 at his expense with shields of arms of his paternal ancestors.
==Works==
Lyttelton was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in January 1743, and [[Society of Antiquaries of London|Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries]] in 1746; and in 1765 he was promoted to be President of the Society of Antiquaries. He contributed to the ''[[Philosophical Transactions]]'', and wrote for ''Archaeologia'' (vols. 1–3.). Rosemary Sweet writes:
{{cquote|Antiquaries such as Charles Lyttelton and [[Richard Gough (antiquarian)|Richard Gough]] played a pivotal role in establishing the systematic study of architectural history, and in their re-evaluation of the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic style of architecture]] contributed to the development of a historicist approach to the past.<ref>Rosemary Sweet, ''Antiquaries: The Discovery of the Past in Eighteenth-Century Britain'' (2004), p. xvi.</ref>
}}
==Legacy==
[[File:Hagley, St John the Baptist - interior, Bishop Charles Lyttelton memorial.JPG|thumb|[[St John the Baptist Church, Hagley]], memorial to Bishop Charles Lyttelton]][[William Borlase]] addressed to him his volume on [[Scilly]] (1758), [[Andrew Ducarel|Andrew Coltee Ducarel]] inscribed to him a work on Anglo-Norman antiquities (1767), and [[Samuel Pegge]] wrote to him an essay on the coins of [[Cunobelin]] (1766). Lyttelton bequeathed his manuscripts to the Society of Antiquaries. They formed the basis of [[Treadway Russell Nash]]'s ''History of Worcestershire'', and of the works of later writers on the county. [[Stebbing Shaw]]'s ''History of Staffordshire'' was partly compiled from them, and from the same source many improvements were made in [[Sampson Erdeswicke]]'s ''Survey of Staffordshire'' (1820 and 1844). Not the least of his impact was in his encouragement of his ward [[The Wodehouse|Samuel Hellier]] to study at [[Exeter College, Oxford]], where he developed a passion for music.<ref>Catherine Frew and Arnold Myers, "Sir Samuel Hellier's 'Musicall Instruments'", ''Galpin Society Journal'', vol. 56, June 2003. Includes a full-page colour portrait. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/30044418 JSTOR link]</ref>
Notes by the Rev. Charles Lyttelton on churches, other buildings and antiquities in various counties known as the Lyttelton Bequest at the Society of Antiquaries<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f373804b-4c6e-40ab-8259-9e968b0fab4c|title=LYTTELTON BEQUEST. Notes by the Rev. Charles Lyttelton on churches, other buildings and antiquities in various counties|date=1741–1767|language=English}}</ref> are of importance because, as Rosemary Sweet observed in her book ''Antiquaries: The Discovery of the Past in Eighteenth-Century'' Britain, "Charles Lyttelton was one of the first to attempt a systematic study of Saxon and Gothic architecture…" and "he put pressure upon the society to publish plates of what he took to be Saxon buildings…and supported the move to commission engravings of the illustrations of the Caedmon manuscript, chiefly because they served to illustrate Saxon architectural features".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sweet|first=Rosemary|title=Antiquaries: The Discovery of the Past in Eighteenth-Century Britain|publisher=A&C Black|year=2004|isbn=9781852853099|pages=249-253}}</ref> Images held in the archive of the [[Conway Library]] at [[The Courtauld Institute of Art]], which are listed as "From 'Drawings of Saxon Churches'; collection by Lyttleton, Soc. Of Antiq.", are being digitised under the wider Courtauld Connects project.<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 June 2020|title=Who made the Conway Library?|url=http://sites.courtauld.ac.uk/digitalmedia/2020/06/30/who-made-the-conway-library/|access-date=30 November 2021|website=Digital Media|language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{DNB|wstitle=Lyttelton, Charles (1714-1768)}}
==External links==
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
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{{succession box
| title  = [[Bishop of Carlisle]]
| years  = 1762–1768
| before = [[Richard Osbaldeston]]
| after  = [[Edmund Law]]
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Deans of Exeter}}
{{Bishops of Carlisle}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyttelton, Charles}}
[[Category:1714 births]]
[[Category:1768 deaths]]
[[Category:Bishops of Carlisle]]
[[Category:Deans of Exeter]]
[[Category:English antiquarians]]
[[Category:18th-century antiquarians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Alumni of University College, Oxford]]
[[Category:People educated at Eton College]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Society of Antiquaries of London]]
[[Category:Lyttelton family|Charles]]
[[Category:Younger sons of baronets]]
[[Category:18th-century Church of England bishops]]