Robert Scott, Dean of Rochester 1870-1887

The Rev. E. H. Dunkley explores the career of Dean Robert Scott, presiding at the time of Sir George Gilbert Scott’s restoration of the Cathedral in the 1870s. Extract from The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1939.

In Morley's Life of Gladstone there is a list of some of the chief ecclesiastical appointments which Gladstone made in his first Premiership, and it includes Church, Dean of St. Paul's; Liddon and Lightfoot, Canons of St. Paul's; Kingsley, Canon of Westminster; Vaughan, Master of the Temple; and Robert Scott, Dean of Rochester.

Such was the wealth of the Victorian Church in genius and learning, and such were the days in which Robert Scott lived and laboured. His name is remembered today perhaps only in conjunction with that of his brother Dean, Liddell, of Christ Church: "Liddell and Scott" is the most famous ex-ample of collaboration in Victorian days-the most famous, for their fame was European, but not the only example; for the same great age saw the production of another massive work of collaboration, the Text of the Greek Testament from the hands of "Westcott and Hort." Before Liddell and Scott became the name of a dictionary they were honoured and beloved as finished scholars and courteous and devout Christian men; and though they are now hardly thought of apart, in their life-time they had their respective admirers and critics.

Witness the schoolboy who, when Liddell was Head-master of Westminster, perpetrated the following:

Two men wrote a Lexicon, Liddell and Scott;

Some parts were clever, but some parts were not,

Hear, all ye learned, and read me this riddle,

How the wrong part wrote Scott, and the right part wrote Liddell.

The epigram does humorous injustice to Scott, who was one of the most brilliant classical scholars of his time and actually defeated Liddell in the Latin Essay at Oxford.

The two men, indeed, were the closest friends and there is a strange similarity in their respective careers: both were at Christ Church and took a first-class together in Lit. Hum. in the same year; both became Heads of an Oxford college, Liddell of Christ Church and Scott of Balliol; and both ended as Deans.

The life of Liddell may be read in the interesting Memoir by H. L. Thompson; but Scott has not yet found a biographer, and the following sketch is based on material collected from various published sources, of which the most valuable are the Memoirs of Archbishop F. Temple and a long obituary notice by Archdeacon E. Palmer published in The Guardian of December 14th, 1887.

Robert Scott was born on 26th January, 1811, at Bondleigh, Devon, the son of Alexander Scott, who was Rector of that parish. While Robert was still a child the family moved north to Egremont Rectory, Cumberland. and in due course he was sent to school at St. Bees. From there he proceeded to Shrewsbury, which then, under Dr. S. Butler, was winning some of that classical fame which culminated during the Headship of B. H. Kennedy. In 1830 he went up to Christ Church, Oxford, where his career was marked by brilliant successes. He became Craven scholar in 1830, took a first-class in 1833, becoming Ireland scholar the same year, won the Latin Essay in 1834 and a Fellowship at Balliol in 1835. He was ordained on his Fellowship and remained at Balliol till 1840, when he was given the college living of Dule in Cornwall.

Ten years later he removed to another Balliol living at South Luffenham, Rutland. In 1854 came the great change in his life through his election as Master of Balliol. Jowett, who was then a Fellow, had hoped to be elected and was bitterly disappointed at his defeat; but Scott was chosen as a safer and more orthodox candidate. Here Scott remained for sixteen years, during the latter part of the time holding also the Dean Ireland Professorship of Exegesis. In 1870 he was nominated by Gladstone to the Deanery of Rochester, and succeeded at Balliol by Jowett who thus after many years attained his life's ambition.

Portrait of Dean Robert Scott, Rochester Cathedral Chapter Library print.

Scott remained at Rochester for the rest of his life, and passed away on and December, 1887. He was twice married: his first wife, Mary, the daughter of Rear-Admiral T. F. Bough, died in 1845, and four years later he married Mary, the daughter of Major H. Scott. This proved a long and happy union and Mrs. Scott only passed away two years before her husband.

Such is the brief outline of his life. What sort of man was he? In Archbishop Temple's Memoirs (I, p. 46) there is an interesting letter written by Scott (then Tutor at Balliol) to Lord Sellorne, pleading for financial assistance for Temple, who was in danger of having to leave Oxford through narrowness of means. The letter speaks in glowing terms of his protégé and unconsciously testifies to Scott's own warmth of heart. As he was successful in his appeal it is perhaps not too much to say that the Church owes the gift of a great Archbishop in part to Robert Scott for the help he gave to Frederick Temple. There was a close friendship between the two men, though Scott was ten years the senior.

When he went to his Cornish Rectory, Temple visited him there and sometimes took duty for him so that he could be away from his parish; indeed, Scott's Rectory became for Temple a second

The high opinion Temple had of Scott is shown in a letter to his mother in which he says, "I do not believe there ever was a tutor who took so deep an interest in all entrusted to him" (Memoirs, I, p. 50, note).

He was, then, a man of unusual kindness of heart with a strong sense of responsibility for those under his care. He was besides a loyal Churchman and a devout Christian.

"The first thing of importance which he did as Master of Balliol was to substitute a monthly celebration of Holy Communion for the terminal celebration which had been before his time the stereotyped custom in that as in many other colleges. Some years afterwards, while he was still Master, at the request of a large majority of the undergraduates a weekly celebration was commenced, which has never since been discontinued" (The Guardian, December 14th, 1887). When he went to Rochester he estab-lished evening services in the nave of the Cathedral on Sundays and on certain weekdays in Advent and Lent.

He kept up a constant correspondence with Temple on religious topics, and it is evident from 'Temple's letters that Scott took the conservative view on most of the points of controversy which were then agitating the Church; he had, indeed, the natural conservatism of the exact scholar and he was not uninfluenced by the Oxford Movement, though not a definite adherent.

For his personal religion we have the testimony of Archdeacon Palmer who, in The Guardian memoir already quoted, wrote, "at Rochester as at Oxford he was a constant attendant at the services, seldom failing to be in his place twice a day. The genuineness of his religion was seen in his sermons, in his lectures, in his conversation, in his whole bearing and conduct."

Scott is one more example of the valuable work which the country clergy of the English Church have done for scholarship and learning. What Richard Church did at Whatley for general culture and Creighton at Embleton for history, Scott did at his Cornish and Rutland rectories for Greek scholarship.

Indeed, the whole of his life, through his devotion to learning, had a unity of its own, and though his chief work was, of course, the great Lexicon, he served the cause of sacred knowledge in other ways as well.

What did scholars and schoolboys do before the days of Liddell and Scott? There were ponderous Greek-Latin dictionaries, but nothing in Greek and English except for one or two poor attempts brought out a few years previously.

In Germany there was a good Greek-German lexicon, the work of F. Passow, and the first suggestion was that a translation of Passow's dictionary should be made in England. Finally it was decided that two young and promising scholars, Henry Liddell and Robert Scott, who had each just taken a brilliant degree, should be encouraged to undertake the task of producing a Greek-English lexicon.

They set to work, probably in 1834, and after nine years of arduous labour it was ready for publication in 1843. It met with universal acclaim and the first edition was exhausted in nine months. That meant continued work for the editors, who indeed for years were occupied in bringing out successive editions. Their collaboration lasted till 1869, by which time six editions had been published. The Lexicon was never laid aside by Liddell till his death, and only by Scott after his removal to Rochester. Whatever drudgery the work involved the authors had the satisfaction of knowing that it had opened a new epoch in Greek scholarship and had enhanced the reputation of their country for classical learning.

In 1870, the year that Scott became Dean of Rochester, he was invited to become a member of the N. T. Committee for the Revision of the Bible. With the other scholars on that Committee, which included men like Westcott, Hort, Lightfoot, Trench, Moulton and Scrivener, Scott was occupied with this great undertaking for eleven years, so that his withdrawal from collaboration in the Lexicon after the completion of the sixth, and what was intended to be the final, edition in 1869 did not mean his retirement from scholarly labours. He was invited also to write a Commentary on The Epistle of S. James in the Speaker's Commentary series, and this was brought out in 1881.

During his time at Rochester a considerable amount of reconstruction in the Cathedral was carried through; this is described by Mr. St. John Hope in his Architectural History of Rochester Cathedral. "In 1872 and following years the church again underwent 'restoration' at the hands of Sir G. Gilbert Scott. An ugly late-Perpendicular window in the clerestory at the east end of the church was then replaced by sham early-English lancets, and the presbytery and quire were gutted and repaved and refitted. . . . A good deal of necessary repair was done to the stonework, and on the whole the 'restoration' was conservative and involved the destruction of very little old work" (p. 92).

Plan and elevation drawings for the moasic memorials in the east wall of the Presbytery, dedicated to Dean Scott’s wife.

Among other undertakings in Dean Scott's time may be mentioned the erection of new buildings for the Choir School. He gave thought and care also to the King's School, and the Hospital of St. Bartholomew received from him much sympathetic help. He is remembered by one who is still with us as "a white-haired venerable gentleman, quiet and courteous, and not going out much but spending his time in matters connected with the Cathedral and the schools and the hospital, of which as Dean he was Patron." When his time came he passed quietly away at the Deanery on December and, 1887.

At the funeral were present the Bishop (Dr. Thorold), Archdeacon Cheetham (the historian), Canons Jelf and Burrows, the Provost of Oriel (D. B. Monro), Dr. T. K. Cheyne (Oriel Pro-fessor) and many clergy and representative laity. "He was buried in his surplice and stole, clasping in his hands the little chalice given him by Dean Liddell in 1840 when he first left Oxford for parish work."

Friends and admirers joined in subscribing to the erection of a memorial to him in the Cathedral. This took the form of eight statues on the west side of the choir screen erected in stone from a design by John Pearson. The figures represent S. Andrew, King Ethelbert, Bishop Justus, Bishop Paulinus, Bishop Gundulph, William de Hoo, Bishop Walter de Merton and Bishop Fisher.

3D model of the 1904 Pulpitum Screen dedicated to Dean Robert Scott.

These, with the great Lexicon, are his visible memorials, and we in Rochester are proud to add to the roll of distinguished men associated with this Cathedral and Diocese the name of Robert Scott, a divine of true piety and great learning and of much kindliness of heart.

The Rev. E. H. Dunkley

The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 1939