Henry Wilkinson 1616-1690

Henry WILKINSON 1616-1690

Biographical Note

Born at Ardwick-le-Street, Yorkshire, son of William Wilkinson, curate there. BA Magdalen Hall, Oxford 1635, MA 1638, then became tutor and Dean of the college. Minister at Buckminster, Leicestershire 1642, vicar of Epping, Essex 1643. Principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford 1648, ejected 1662; licensed to preach at Gosfield, 1672. He moved to Suffolk in the late 1670s and died there.

Books

Wilkinson published a catalogue of the books in Magdalen Hall Library in 1661. In the early 1670s his library was seized on his refusal to pay a fine for unlawful preaching. The library was auctioned after his death in London, 15.11.1694. The sale catalogue contains 1171 lots, subdivided into Latin theology (414 lots) and Latin miscellaneous (including 10 lots of Greek texts) (757); there are no sections of English books, suggesting that this was not his entire library. An earlier collection of his was given to Magdalen Hall, now Hertford College, Oxford. Examples: many at Hertford College.

Sources

• Catalogus librorum in bibliotheca Aulae Magdalenae, Oxford, 1661, ESTC R38617.
• Alston, R. C. Inventory of sale catalogues 1676-1800. St Philip, 2010.
• Poole, W. Wadham College books in the age of John Wilkins, 2014, 27-8.
• Spivey, Jim. "Wilkinson, Henry (1616/17–1690), college head and ejected minister." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.