Letters about the birth of William Tyndale

Tyndale anniversary (1)

From the Reverend A.E.F. Trotman
The Times, 1 May 1992

Sir, One reason why the date of birth of William Tyndale is unknown (letter, April 25 [See below]) could be the different name under which he started life. The Tyndale family originally came from Northumberland, but finding themselves on the losing side in the Wars of the Roses, had to flee to the Stinchcombe area of Gloucestershire, even changing their name to Hychins. Katherine, a niece of William, married a neighbour — Richard Trotman, a small landowner at Cam.

William went up to Magdalen College, Oxford, took his MA degree on July 2, 1515, and was ordained priest under the name Hychins. In the first edition of The Obedience of a Christian Man, 1528, he calls himself “Willam Hychins unto the reader”. In subsequent editions he describes himself as “William Tyndale, otherwise called Hychins”.

Church baptismal rolls had not yet come into existence. A search for the birth of William Hychins rather than William Tyndale — possibly in the muniments room of Berkeley Castle — might yield results.


Yours faithfully,
ANTHONY E. F. TROTMAN

Tyndale anniversary (2)
 From Lord Runcie and others
25 April 1992, The Times, London

Sir, The 500th anniversary of the birth of William Tyndale is surely an occasion which all lovers of the English language will wish to commemorate suitably.

Tyndale's translations of the New Testament and part of the Old entitle him to be regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in the development of our literature, liturgy and language. His masterly translations formed the basis of the King James Bible, published in 1611, many of the finest passages being taken from his work unchanged.

There is, however, a difficulty to be overcome. No record of Tyndale's birth exists, although we understand that historians are agreed that it took place in the 1490's and that most would place it in the year 1494 . It seems now unlikely that the actual date will be established and our concern is that the birth should be commemorated on an agreed day, thus avoiding the risk of a series of conflicting celebrations.

Since the Church calendar sets aside October 6 as the date to commemorate Tyndale, we suggest that October 6, 1994, would be a suitable date to celebrate the 500th anniversary of his birth and that it would be fitting to set up a William Tyndale committee to work toward this end and in particular to decide the type of celebration most appropriate.

We would be grateful if any who wish to respond to this proposal would write to the address below.

Yours faithfully,
ROBERT RUNCIE
C. VERONICA WEDGWOOD,
PHYLLIS JAMES,
IRIS MURDOCH.
WILLIAM GOLDING,
William Tyndale Committee,
St Bride's Church,
Fleet Street, EC4,
24 April 1992