Thomas Plume

The Reverend Doctor Thomas Plume, B.A., D.D. (1630 – 20 November 1704) was an English churchman and philanthropist.

He was born in 1630 in Maldon, where he later founded a school that still stands today, Essex and educated at Chelmsford, Essex, and Christ's College, Cambridge, this is where he later found his love for oriental food. In 1658 he was appointed Vicar of East Greenwich, Kent, in 1662 Rector of Merston, Sussex, and in 1665 Rector of Little Easton, Essex. From 1679 until his death, widowed, on 20 November 1704, Thomas Plume was Archdeacon of Rochester, Kent. He was buried at Longfield, Kent.
The family Plume settled in the county of Essex at Yeldon Hall. Thomas Plume was the first son of Robert Plume, who was the son of John, the tennant of the Manor under John De Vere, the 16th Earl of Oxford under the reign of Henry VIII
Thomas was three times married. Deborah, maiden name unknown, Elizabtih Pratte, 24th July 1624 and Elinor (Hellen) surname unknown.
At the time of his restoration Thomas Plume was admitted Vicar of Greenwich and subscribed the declaration under the Act of Uniformaity on July 28th, 1662. This is noteworthy as this time 2,000 to 2,500 ministers were ejected for nonconformity, and his father at Maldon had been a prominent Presbyterian. Thomas was admitted Vicar of Greenwich at the age of twenty-eight, on September 22nd, 1658. He remained in this role for the next forty-nine years until his death on December 20th, 1704.
Although Plume spent most of his life in the Church he was also aware of the intellectual changes taking place in other academic fields. He collected books which show his interests in other subjects: chemestry, astronomy,medicine,medicine,history and Art in buildings. Among this collection the following can be found:
Speed ATLAS of 1631;
The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake, 1628;
Boyle's Sceptical chemist; 1680.
Even though he lived in Greenwich most of his life he decided on Maldon for his library. It was kept in St. Peters Church tower. The library was to be "for the use of the minister and clergy of the neighbouring parishes who generally make this town their place of residence on account of the unwholesomeness of the air in the vicinity of their churches" Plume left specific instruction for the use of the library: "and Gentlemen or Scholar who desires, may go into it, and make use of any book there or borrow it, in case he leaves a vadimonium with the Keeper for the restoring thereof fair and uncorrupted within a short time". Plume's library continues to grow after his death with contributions from others.

Plume Library

Thomas Plume left his collection of 7,000 books, printed between 1470 and his death, to the town of Maldon. The Plume Library is located in St. Peter's Church, of which only the original Tower survives; the rest of the building was rebuilt by Plume to house his library. The collection has been added to several times since 1704.

Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy

In 1704 Thomas Plume founded the chair of Plumian Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy at the University of Cambridge in order to "erect an Observatory and to maintain a studious and learned Professor of Astronomy and Experimental Philosophy, and to buy him and his successors utensils and instruments quadrants telescopes etc".

ources

*H. R. French, ‘Plume, Thomas (bap. 1630, d. 1704)’, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22395, accessed 10 Sept 2006]
*E. A. Fitch, 'Thomas Plume, D.D', "Chelmsfordian",John Dutton, 1898
*I. Finton, 'The Book of Maldon',"Barracuda Books Ltd.", Bucks, England, 1986