George Becher Blomfield (1801-1885)

George Blomfield was born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, in 1801, the youngest son of Charles Blomfield, schoolmaster, and Hester Pawsey. George was educated at Bury and then studied at Cambridge, first at Trinity College and then at Christ’s. He obtained his B.A. in 1824 and was ordained deacon for the diocese of Chester (his older brother Charles had been appointed bishop of Chester earlier that same year). In 1827 he married Frances Maria Massie, by whom he had seven children. She died in 1837 and in 1847 he married Mary Anson, daughter of the Dean of Chester. She died in 1852 and in 1854 he married Elizabeth Feilden of Mollington Hall, near Chester.

After his ordination, Blomfield was appointed curate and then rector to a number of parishes in the diocese. From 1827 he was a canon of Chester Cathedral, a position he held until his death in 1885. From 1834 until 1874 he was rector of Stevenage in Hertfordshire.

During his lifetime, Blomfield published a number of sermons including 3 series “adapted to country congregations”. He was also a collector of early printed books and fine bindings, concentrating mainly on bibles, prayer or service books and some theological works. After the death of his widow, Elizabeth, in 1897, Mollington Hall and its library reverted to members of the Feilden family. Blomfield’s collection was sold at auction by Sotheby’s in 1906 on the instructions of Guy Feilden.