Samuel Rogers and his Contemporaries
Lord Lyndhurst to Samuel Rogers, 16 January 1844
‘George Street: 16th January, 1844.
‘My dear Mr.
Rogers,—I have applied to the Archbishop on the subject of Mr.
Burgon’s qualification to fill the vacancy in the Medal
department, and find that he is inclined to place in that office Mr. Birch, who has been known as a scholar and
antiquary all over Europe, ![]()
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and as an
Egyptian scholar is profoundly versed in hieroglyphics.
‘I have, however, again written to him on the subject
of Mr. Burgon.
‘Believe me, my dear Mr.
Rogers, very truly yours,
Samuel Birch (1813-1885)
The grandson of the poet and lord mayor Samuel Birch (1757-1841); educated at Merchant
Taylors' School, he was an keeper of oriental, British, and medieval antiquities in the
British Museum.
Thomas Burgon (1787-1858)
A Turkey merchant whose business failed in 1841 following the loss of the Levant
Company's monopoly; he was thereafter employed as numismatist in the British Museum.
John Singleton Copley, baron Lyndhurst (1772-1863)
The son of the American painter; he did legal work for John Murray before succeeding Lord
Eldon as lord chancellor (1827-30, 1834-35, 1841-46); a skilled lawyer, he was also a
political chameleon.
William Howley, archbishop of Canterbury (1766-1848)
Educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, he was regius professor of Divinity
(1809-13), bishop of London (1813-28), and archbishop of Canterbury (1828-48).
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
