68 Bishop Tanner, Ids 'Family and Writings. 



The dedication thus expresses Tanner's gratitude to Dr. Finch. " I 

 gratefully acknowledge your kindness to a person altogether un- 

 known to you/-' (this may mean personally unknown, and is not in- 

 consistent with Lord Abingdon's making suit for him,) " without 

 which, he must have left this beloved place and his Studies; in which, 

 because of his natural inclination to History and Antiquities, he has 

 been thought, by the partial kindness of his friends, in some measure 

 fit to serve his Country.'''' When appointed to this Chaplaincy, 

 Tanner would only have just entered his 23rd year; but in those 

 days, an interpretation of the Canon law was received, and acted 

 upon, which permitted a Man to take Deacon's orders, after he had 

 entered upon his 23rd year, instead of being, as now required, full 23. 

 On April 26, 1696, he proceeded to the degree of M.A. as of All 

 Souls; and Nov. following, before he had completed a Year of Ser- 

 vice as Chaplain, we find that he was elected Fellow of All Souls. 

 No doubt his kindness ot heart, his simplicity of manners, and lit- 

 erary attainments made him acceptable to the Society at large ; and 

 those among them who were able to appreciate his merits in the 

 particular line of study he pursued, (especially the Warden, himself 

 a great Archaeologist) would at once consent, that the " bene nattcs" 

 clause, in the Founder's Statute of Qualification, might fitly, in this 

 case, be dispensed with. Yet, that "bene natus" is suggestive; and 

 I cannot but think, with due regard had to Tanner's persevering 

 research, that having access to Visitations, Records, and Local MSS., 

 he would have made out his title to something of a Pedigree, had it 

 been in his power to have done so, upon his election as Fellow of All 

 Souls, where until very lately, so much importance was attached to 

 such things . I have not yet discovered whether intimacy with Moore, 

 Bishop of Norwich, 1 or marriage in prospect with Rose the Bishop's 

 eldest daughter, (which took place 1701,) helped Tanner into the 

 Chancellorship of Norwich, in 1700 : but after marriage he vacated 

 his Fellowship, left Oxford as a residence, and settled down close to 

 his Mitred Father in Law. It seems that his merit had already been 

 considered as giving him a claim to an office in the University; for 



1 For some notices of Moore, see Blomefield's Norfolk. 



