George Oliver, D.D. (1782–1867) was an English cleric, schoolmaster, topographer, and writer on freemasonry.
Contents
Life
He was eldest son of Samuel Oliver, rector of Lambley, Nottinghamshire, by Elizabeth, daughter of George Whitehead, of Blyth Spital in the same county. He was born at Papplewick, Nottinghamshire, on 5 November 1782, and, after receiving a liberal education at Nottingham, he became in 1803 second master of Caistor grammar school. Six years afterwards he was appointed to the headmastership of Grimsby grammar school.
Oliver was ordained deacon in 1813, and priest in 1814; and in July 1815 Bishop George Pretyman Tomline collated him to the living of Clee, when his name was placed on the boards of Trinity College, Cambridge, by Dr Bayley, subdean of Lincoln and examining chaplain to the bishop, as a ten-year man. In 1831 Bishop John Kaye gave him the rectory of Scopwick, Lincolnshire, which he held till his death. A Lambeth degree of D.D. was conferred on him 25 July 1835.
From 1834 to 1846 Oliver was perpetual curate of St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton. He was also domestic chaplain to Lord Kensington. He had been appointed Deputy Provincial Grand Master of Lincolnshire in 1832, and in 1840 he was appointed an honorary member of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, with the rank of deputy grand master.
In 1846 Lord Lyndhurst, the Lord Chancellor, conferred on Oliver the rectory of South Hyckham, Lincolnshire, in return for vacating the curacy of Wolverhampton. In 1854 his voice began to fail, and, confiding the charge of his parishes to curates, he passed the remainder of his life in seclusion at Lincoln. He died there on 3 March 1867, and was buried with Masonic rites on the 7th, in the cemetery attached to the church of St. Swithin.
Works
Oliver's topographical and theological works are:
A Vindication of the Fundamental Doctrines of Christianity against the Attacks of Deism and Infidelity, in a Series of Pastoral Addresses, Great Grimsby [1820?].
The Monumental Antiquities of Great Grimsby: an Essay towards ascertaining its Origin and Ancient Population, Hull, 1825.
The History and Antiquities of the Conventual Church of St. James, Great Grimsby, Grimsby, 1829.
The History and Antiquities of the Town and Minster of Beverley, in the County of York, with Historical and Descriptive Sketches of the Abbeys of Watton and Meaux, the Convent of Haltemprise, the Villages, and the Hamlets comprised within the Liberties of Beverley, Beverley, 1829.
An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Wolverhampton [1836].
History of the Trinity Guild at Sleaford, with an Account of its Miracle Plays, Religious Mysteries, and Shows, as practised in the Fifteenth Century.... To which is added an Appendix detailing the Traditions which still prevail, and a Description of the Lincoln Pageants exhibited during the Visit of King James to that City, Lincoln, 1837.
Jacob's Ladder: the Ascent to Heaven plainly pointed out, in eighteen practical Addresses, London, 1845.
An Account of the Religious Houses formerly situated on the eastern side of the River Witham, London, 1846.
The existing Remains of the Ancient Britons within a small District lying between Lincoln and Sleaford, London, 1846.
Ye Byrde of Gryme: an Apologue, Grimsby, 1866. A history of Grimsby.
Family
Oliver married in 1805 Mary Ann, youngest daughter of Thomas Beverley, by whom he left five children.