Hume Babington

Hume Babington (1 September 1804 – 23 January 1886) was a Church of Ireland clergyman, serving as the rector at Moviddy, County Cork, for 53 years from 1833 to 1886, and a proponent of secular education in Ireland.

Early life Hume Babington was born in 1804 to the Rev. Richard Babington and his wife Mary Boyle, both members of the Anglo-Irish landed gentry. His father, the rector of Lower Comber (Diocese of Derry), led an extravagant lifestyle and is said to have left debts of £40,000 on his death in 1831, aged 66, equivalent to some £4.1 million as of 2019. His father's debt was paid off by his two brothers Richard (1795–1870) and Anthony of Creevagh (1800–1869) between them. The declaration noted, on behalf of the united Church of England and Ireland, 'We entirely admit the justice and policy of the rule which protects scholars from interference with their religious principles and thus enables members of different denominations, to receive together in harmony and peace, the benefits of a good education'.

Personal life He married, in 1836, Esther, daughter of Richard Nettles, Esq., JP, of Nettleville, County Cork, with whom he had 5 sons and 8 daughters: Angel Babington (14 June 1845-d.); she married Rev. Richard Bathoe Jones (grandmother of General Sir Charles Jones and Sir Edward Warburton Jones among others)