Robert Thistlethwayte (baptized 16 December 1690 c. January, 1744) was the third son of Francis Thistlethwayte (b. 1658) of Winterslow, Wiltshire.[1] He was a Warden of Wadham College, Oxford and a clergyman in the Church of England.[2]

In 1737 Thistlethwayte fled to Boulogne after being accused of making homosexual advances towards a student, William French, whose tutor John Swinton was also accused of homosexual practices. Satirical poetry was written about these events.[3] The following limerick probably also refers to Thistlethwayte:[4]

There once was a Warden of Wadham
Who approved of the folkways of Sodom,
For a man might, he said,
Have a very poor head
But be a fine Fellow, at bottom.

Allegations of homosexual behaviour, which was considered scandalous at that time, and the College's decision to take out fire insurance combined to prompt the following verse:

Well did the am'rous sone of Wadham
Insure their house 'gainst future flame;
They knew their crime, the crime of Sodom,
And judg'd their punishment the same.

References

  1. http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/74037 National Biography: Thistlethwayte, Robert
  2. "Wadham College | British History Online".
  3. Norton, Rictor (5 June 2004). "The State of Rome, 1739". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
  4. Norton, Rictor (1998). "Bawdy Limericks". Archived from the original on 25 September 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2006.
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