Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Wickham, Edward Charles
WICKHAM, EDWARD CHARLES (1834–1910), dean of Lincoln, eldest son of Edward Wickham, at one time vicar of Preston Candover, Hampshire, by his wife Christiana St. Barbe, daughter of C. H. White, rector of Shalden, Hampshire, was born on 7 Dec. 1834 at Eagle House, Brook Green, Hammersmith, where his father then kept a private school of high reputation. Here he received his early education, entering Winchester as a commoner in January 1848. On 8 July 1850 he was admitted to a place in college, was senior in school November 1851, and in January 1852 he succeeded to a fellowship at New College, Oxford, beginning his undergraduate career at the age of seventeen. In December 1854 he took a first class in classical moderations, and a second class in literæ humaniores in July 1856, winning the chancellor's prize for Latin verse in the same year, and the Latin essay in 1857. He graduated B.A. in 1857, and proceeded to the degrees of M.A. in 1859, and of B.D. and D.D. in 1894.
He was ordained deacon in 1857 and priest in 1858, and after a two years' experience in teaching Sixth Book at Winchester he was recalled to Oxford, where he still retained his fellowship, by the offer of a tutorship. Here he took a leading part in the series of reforms which threw New College open to scholars and commoners who had not been educated at Winchester, and he helped to amend the statutes so as to allow tutors and other college officers to retain their fellowships after marriage. In conjunction with his friend, Edwin Palmer of Balliol, he initiated the system of intercollegiate lectures. Wickham's fine scholarship, his influence with the undergraduates, and his power of preaching made him one of the most successful tutors of his time, and he gradually acquired an important position in the general management of university affairs. In September 1873 he succeeded Edward White Benson as headmaster of Wellington College, a post which he filled for twenty years. Though he possessed many of the qualifications of a successful schoolmaster, and won the affection of those masters and boys who were brought in close contact with him, his cold manner and unimpressive physique stood in the way of anything like general popularity. In spite of vicissitudes, however, he guided the college safely through some perilous crises and left it better equipped and organised than he found it. His scanty leisure was devoted to an elaborate edition of ‘Horace’ (vol. i. 1874; vol. ii. 1893), which bore tribute to his fine scholarship. He resigned Wellington in the summer of 1893, and in January 1894 was appointed dean of Lincoln in succession to William John Butler. Here he did excellent work, both in his official capacity in the cathedral and in the city at large. His sermons, exquisitely delivered and given in fastidiously chosen language, had been widely appreciated both at New College and Wellington, and he was chosen select preacher before the University of Oxford for four different years. Wickham also took a prominent share in the debates of convocation and devoted himself to the better organisation both of primary and secondary education in the diocese of Lincoln. He was one of the leading spirits on the education settlement committee formed in 1907 to bring nonconformists and churchmen together. In general politics he was a strong liberal, and his marriage to the daughter of Gladstone placed him in close relations with the liberal party; he followed his father-in-law with absolute faith and devotion. He died on 18 Aug. 1910 at Sierre in Switzerland, whither he had gone with his family for a holiday, and there he was buried, Dr. Randall Davidson, archbishop of Canterbury, performing the service.
He was married on 27 Dec. 1873 to Agnes, eldest daughter of William Ewart Gladstone, by whom he had a family of two sons and three daughters; she survived him. An oil painting of Wickham by Sir William Richmond hangs in the hall at New College.
Besides the edition of ‘Horace’ already referred to, his published works include: 1. ‘Notes and Questions on the Church Catechism,’ 1892. 2. ‘The Prayer-Book,’ 1895, intended for the middle form in public schools. 3. ‘Wellington College Sermons,’ 1897. 4. ‘Horace for English Readers,’ in the form of a prose translation, 1903. 5. ‘The Epistle to the Hebrews,’ in English, with introduction and notes, 1910. 6. ‘Revision of Rubrics, its Purpose and Principles,’ in the ‘Prayer-Book Revision’ series, 1910.
[A Memoir of Edward Charles Wickham, by the Rev. Lonsdale Ragg, B.D., 1911; The Times, 19 Aug. 1910; Spectator, 30 Dec. 1911; personal knowledge.]