Queer Places:
King's College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
University of Cambridge, 4 Mill Ln, Cambridge CB2 1RZ
Eton College, Windsor SL4 6DW, United Kingdom
St Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Perry Hill, Worplesdon, Guildford GU3 3RE, United Kingdom
Duncan Crookes Tovey (February 28, 1842 – September 29, 1912) was an English clergyman, schoolmaster, literary scholar, and essayist who is best remembered for his
definitive editorial work on the poet Thomas Gray and his contributions to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
Born on February 28, 1842, in Bristol, he was the son of Charles Tovey, a wine merchant. Following his education at King's College London, he entered Trinity College, Cambridge, as a sizar in April 1861, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics in 1865 and a Master of Arts in 1869. During his time at Cambridge, he became a member of the prestigious intellectual discussion society, the Cambridge Apostles. His academic ties to the university continued later in life when he served as the Clark Lecturer in English Literature between 1897 and 1898.
Tovey took holy orders, being ordained as a deacon in Rochester in 1869 and a priest in Ely in 1871. Alongside his clerical pursuits, he pursued a career in education. He served as an assistant master at Haileybury from 1868 to 1870, acted as a chaplain at Trinity College from 1871 to 1874, and subsequently taught as an assistant master at Eton College from 1874 until 1886. In 1886, he transitioned to parish life, taking up the role of rector at Worplesdon with Burpham in Surrey, a position he held for the remainder of his life.
A dedicated literary historian, Tovey specialized in eighteenth-century literature. His major scholarly output centered on the poet Thomas Gray, culminating in works such as Gray and His Friends: Letters and Relics (1890), Gray's English Poems (1898), and a multi-part edition of The Letters of Thomas Gray (1900–1912), in addition to editing the poems of James Thomson. His expertise was recognized internationally when he was invited to contribute articles—signed with the initials "D. C. To."—to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, writing authoritatively on subjects including Thomas Gray and James Thomson.
On January 14, 1871, Tovey married Mary Fison, with whom he had two sons: Lieutenant Duncan Tovey and the renowned musicologist and analyst Sir Donald Francis Tovey. Following the passing of his wife in 1908, Tovey lived his final years in Surrey. He died on September 29, 1912, at the age of seventy in Guildford and was laid to rest in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin in Worplesdon.
References:
 The Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship in British Intellectual and Professional Life 1st Edition by W.C. Lubenow |
Other references:
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