‘In the Sincerest Intentions of Studying’: The Educational Legacy of Thomas Weld (1750–1810), Founder of Stonyhurst College

Abstract

Thomas Weld (1750–1810), of Lulworth in Dorset, is remembered today principally on three counts: his rôle as the founder of Stonyhurst College in 1794; his benefactions to religious orders at the height of the French revolution as they fled from political upheaval and danger in continental Europe; and his friendship with George III, including his hosting of several visits of the king to Lulworth Castle in the 1790s. Weld’s munificence in making available his Lancashire seat, Stonyhurst, to the English ex-Jesuit ‘Gentlemen of Liège’ has received attention from historians. In contrast, his own education as a young man, at the hands of the English and French Jesuits in continental Europe, has hitherto received little more than passing notice.

‘Upon your entry into the world’: masculine values and the threshold of adulthood among landed elites in England 1680–1800

“…The main counterweights to this bias are Humphrey Prideaux's letters to his sister, which rehearse 'parental' perspectives, letters by Jesuit preceptors to Edward and Thomas Weld after their departure from St. Omer, and John Buxton's published correspondence with his son Robert. 32 This study will evaluate three important aspects of the relationship between filial 'entry into the world' and parental expectations about appropriate 'masculine' development. Firstly, it will explore parental understandings of this dilemma, and illustrate how fears were counter-balanced by recognition of the importance of personal autonomy within practices of elite masculinity.…”