Biography

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Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Archbishop of Dublin and biblical scholar

Trench was born in Dublin, the son of a barrister-at-law and educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge. He left Cambridge in 1829 and after a period of depression and despondency, which he relieved by writing poetry, was ordained in 1832. After brief curacies, he became professor of divinity in King's College, London (1846-1858), dean of Westminster (1856-1863), and finally archbishop of Dublin (1863-1884). In the latter position he opposed Prime Minister W F. Gladstone's proposals for the disestablishment of the Church in Ireland. His efforts failed.

Apart from the publication of poetry, he wrote two well-known books on the Gospels: Notes on the Parables of Our Lord (1841) and Notes on the Miracles of Our Lord (1846). More technical were his Study of Words (1851) and Synonyms of the New Testament (1854). This interest in philology also took practical form in his activity in helping with the publication of the now famous Oxford English Dictionary.