WESTCOTT, BROOKE FOSS English divine and bishop of Durham, was born on Jan. 12, 1825, near Birmingham. His father, Frederick Brooke Westcott, was a bota nist of some distinction. Westcott was educated at King Edward VI. school, Birmingham, and at Trinity College, Cambridge. He took his degree in January 1848, obtaining double-first honours. In mathematics he was twenty-fourth wrangler, Isaac Todhunter being senior. In classics he was senior, being bracketed with C. B. Scott, afterwards headmaster of Westminster. Westcott then re mained for four years in residence at Trinity. In 1849 he ob tained his fellowship, and took holy orders. Among his pupils at Cambridge were his school friends J. B. Lightfoot, E. W. Benson and F. J. A. Hort (qq.v.). He devoted much attention to philo sophical, patristic and historical studies, but it soon became evi dent that he would throw his strength into New Testament work.
In 1852 he became an assistant master at Harrow, where he taught for nearly twenty years under C. J. Vaughan and Montagu Butler. The writings which he produced at this period created a new epoch in the history of modern English theological scholar ship. These are History of the New Testament Canon (1855), which, frequently revised and expanded, became the standard English work upon the subject ; Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles (1859) ; Introduction to the Study of the Gospels (1860), expanded from his Norrisian essay; The Bible in the Church (1864) ; The Gospel of the Resurrection (1866) ; and a History of the English Bible (1869).
In 1868 Westcott was appointed examining chaplain by Bishop Connor Magee (of Peterborough) ; and in the following year he accepted a canonry at Peterborough, which necessitated his leaving Harrow. But the regius professorship of divinity at Cambridge fell vacant, and Westcott was elected to the chair on Nov. 1, 1870. This was the turning-point of his life. He now occupied a great position for which he was supremely fitted, and at a juncture in the reform of university studies when a theologian of liberal views, but universally respected for his massive learning and his devout and single-minded character, would enjoy a unique opportunity for usefulness. Supported by his friends Lightfoot and Hort, he
threw himself into the new work with extraordinary energy. His Commentaries on St. John's Gospel (1881), on the Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and the Epistles of St. John (1883) resulted from his public lectures. One of his most valuable works, The Gospel of Life (1892), a study of Christian doctrine, incorporated the materials upon which he was engaged in a series of more pri vate and esoteric lectures delivered on week-day evenings. Be tween the years 1870 and 1881 Westcott was also continually en gaged in work for the revision of the New Testament, and, simul taneously, in the preparation of a new text in conjunction with Hort. In the year 1881 there appeared the famous Westcott and Hort text of the New Testament, the outcome of nearly thirty years of incessant labour. The reforms in the regulations for degrees in divinity, the formation and first revision of the new theological tripos, the inauguration of the Cambridge mission to Delhi, the institution of the Church Society (for the discussion of theological and ecclesiastical questions by the younger men), the meetings for the divinity faculty, the organization of the new Divinity School and Library and, later, the institution of the Cambridge Clergy Training School, were all, in a very real degree, the result of Westcott's energy and influence as regius professor. To this list should also be added the Oxford and Cambridge pre liminary examination for candidates for holy orders.
In 1883 Westcott was elected to a professorial fellowship at King's. Shortly afterwards he was appointed by the crown to a canonry at Westminster, and became examining chaplain to Arch bishop Benson. He held his canonry at Westminster in conjunc tion with the regius professorship. The strain was heavy but preaching at the Abbey gave him a welcome opportunity of deal ing with social questions. His sermons were generally portions of a series ; and to this period belong the volumes Christus Consum mator (1886) and Social Aspects of Christianity (1887).