Thomas Gisbourne

Thomas Gisborne (31 October 1758 – 24 March 1846) was an English Anglican priest and poet. He was a member of the Clapham Sect, who fought for the abolition of the slave trade in England. Gisborne was born at Bridge Gate, Derby, the son of John Gisborne and his wife Anne Bateman. He was educated at Harrow School and entered St John's College, Cambridge, in 1776, where he established lifelong friendships with William Wilberforce and Thomas Babington. At Cambridge, he became the first Chancellor's medallist in 1780. In 1783 he became curate of Barton-under-Needwood in Staffordshire, and later that year inherited Yoxall Lodge, also in Staffordshire. The next year he married Mary Babington, only sister of Thomas Babington. They had six sons and two daughters. Gisborne was a central figure in the Clapham Sect, an abolitionist group which included William Wilberforce and Gisborne's brother-in-law Thomas Babington. Yoxall Lodge acted as a major focus of the group, and Wilberforce was a frequent visitor there. Gisborne was appointed prebendary of Durham Cathedral in 1823. He died at Yoxall Lodge on 24 March 1846 at the age of eighty-seven. Gisborne left money for an annual scholarship at the University of Durham, which is referred to as the Gisborne Scholarship. Gisborne's *Principles of Moral Philosophy* (1789) was a forceful evangelical attack on William Paley's work, arguing morality as a categorical imperative against Paley's utilitarian standpoint. Gisborne also wrote *Enquiry into the Duties of Men* (1795) and *Enquiry into the Duties of the Female Sex* (1797) stressing subordination to the divinely imposed social hierarchy. His *Walks in a Forest* (1794) was a book of poems describing the scenery of Needwood Forest, which bordered his estate at Yoxall. A scriptural geologist, Gisborne wrote two books which criticised the trend of geology away from a basis in the Bible: *Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity* (1818) and *Considerations on Modern Theories of Geology* (1837).