John J. (John James) Blunt

Born in Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1794, he was educated at St John’s College, Cambridge, where he earned a fellowship after taking his degree in 1816. Early in his career he traveled in Italy and Sicily, later published an account of that journey, and went on to serve in the Church of England, including work in Shropshire and later as rector of Great Oakley in Essex.

He became Hulsean Lecturer in 1831–1832 and, in 1839, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity at Cambridge. He was known as a serious and prolific religious writer whose books often explored the history of the early Church and the interpretation of biblical texts.

Among the works most associated with him are Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings both of the Old and New Testaments, and later lectures and histories on early Christianity. He died on June 18, 1855.