11 Facts About James Woodforde

James Woodforde was an English clergyman, mainly in Somerset and Norfolk, remembered as the author of The Diary of a Country Parson.

James Woodforde was admitted to Winchester as a scholar in 1752 and enrolled at Oriel College, Oxford in 1758, migrating to New College in the following year.

James Woodforde was ordained and graduated BA in 1763, became MA in 1767 and BD in 1775.

James Woodforde appears to have been a competent but uninspired student, and the portrait he provides of Oxford during his two periods of residence as scholar and fellow only confirm Edward Gibbon's famously damning opinion that it was a place where the dons' "dull and deep potations excuse the brisk intemperance of youth".

The extended Woodforde family, including James's frequently drunken brothers, figure prominently in these Somerset years.

James Woodforde returned to Oxford where he became sub-warden of his college and a pro-proctor of the university.

James Woodforde thought Norwich "the fairest City in England by far" and always enjoyed a trip to the "sweet beach" at Yarmouth.

James Woodforde was joined by his niece Anna Woodforde as housekeeper and companion, who stayed with him until he died.

Allegedly advised to do so by his father, James Woodforde provides a meticulous record of his accounts.

The Revd James Woodforde was one of several Woodforde diarists.

The artist Samuel Woodforde, one of James Woodforde's nephews, was a member of the Royal Academy.