William Newcome
William Newcome (10 April 1729 – 11 January 1800) was an Englishman and cleric of the Church of Ireland who was appointed to the bishoprics of Dromore (1766–1775), Ossory (1775–1779), Waterford and Lismore (1779–1795), and lastly to the Primatial See of Armagh (1795–1800). Early life Newcome was born at Abingdon, Berkshire, on 10 April 1729. He was the second son of Joseph Newcome, vicar of St Helen's Church, Abingdon, rector of Barton-in-the-Clay, Bedfordshire, and grand-nephew of Henry Newcome. He was educated at John Roysse's Free School in Abingdon (now Abingdon School), obtained (1745) a scholarship at Pembroke College, Oxford, migrated to Hertford College, Oxford, and graduated M.A. 1753, and D.D. 1765. He was elected a Fellow of Hertford College in 1753, and afterwards Vice-Principal of Hertford College. Career In 1766, Newcome went to Ireland as chaplain to Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford, who was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Before the end of the year, Newcome was promoted to the see of Dromore, which had become vacant in April. He was translated to Ossory in 1775; to Waterford and Lismore in 1779; finally, he was made Archbishop of Armagh and primate of all Ireland on 25 January 1795, during the short-lived viceroyalty of William Fitzwilliam, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam. Newcome's elevation to the primacy was said to be the express act of George III. He had no English patron but Fox, who was not then in power. His appointment was described by James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont as the reward of character, principles, and erudition. His private fortune was large; he was able to advance without difficulty a sum of between fifteen and sixteen thousand pounds, assigned by parliament to the heirs of his predecessor, Richard Robinson, 1st Baron Rokeby. In his primary visitation of the province (1795), he strongly urged the neglected duty of clerical residence. He spent large sums on the improvement of the cathedral and palace at Armagh. Works Newcome had influence through his work An attempt toward revising our English translation of the Greek Scriptures, and toward illustrating the sense by philological and explanatory notes (1796) (commonly known as Archbishop Newcome's new translation). This is to be distinguished from the revised version of Thomas Belsham published by Unitarians after his death: The New Testament in an Improved Version Upon the Basis of Archbishop Newcome's New Translation (1808), which, among other changes, did not include the Comma Johanneum. Newcome worked on a revision of the whole English Bible, of which An Attempt was the New Testament portion. The work was withheld from publication until 1800, after Newcome's death; as the impression was damaged in crossing from Dublin, the number of copies for sale was small. In 1808 Unitarians issued anonymously their Improved Version. The adaptations for a sectarian purpose were mainly the work of Belsham, to whom an indignant reply was addressed (7 August 1809) by Newcome's brother-in-law, Joseph Stock, D.D., Bishop of Killala and Achonry. Newcome's first major publication was 'An Harmony of the Gospels,’