Thomas Thackeray

Thomas Thackeray (1693 – 25 August 1760) was a Church of England clergyman who taught at his old school, Eton College, and ended his career as Head Master of Harrow School. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity (DD).

Life Born in 1693, In 1729, he married Anne Woodward, and with her went on to have sixteen children. In 1746, he was chosen as Head Master of Harrow School, and in 1748 as chaplain to Frederick, Prince of Wales. The prince's early death in 1751 dashed some of his hopes of future royal preferment, but he remained on excellent terms with the new heir to the throne, Prince George, and in 1753 Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester, gave him the sinecure of archdeacon of Surrey, which was worth another £130 a year.

Thackeray was looked on at Harrow as a wise appointment, as he had many useful social contacts, especially among the nobility. In the 1750s, Prince George's friend (and future prime minister) John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, sent his sons to Harrow. and Jane Townley Thackeray (1788–1871), who in 1813 married George Pryme, an economist.