Thomas Jex-Blake

Who was Thomas Jex-Blake?

The Very Rev Dr Thomas William Jex-Blake was an eminent Anglican clergyman and educationalist.

He was born in 1832 the son of lawyer Thomas Jex-Blake and the brother of Sophia Jex-Blake and educated at Rugby and University College, Oxford. He began a career as a school master at Marlborough and was then Assistant Master at Rugby. From 1868 to 1874 he was Principal of Cheltenham College and from 1874 to 1887 was Headmaster of Rugby then Rector of Alvechurch.

In 1891 he was appointed Dean of Wells, a post he held for two decades. He died on 2 July 1915.

He had married Henrietta Cordery in 1857: they had two sons and nine daughters. One son was Arthur John Jex-Blake, a successful doctor and a daughter was Katharine Jex-Blake.