Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 11.djvu/390

Collinson have been tantamount to the discovery of the North-west passage, had this not been already actually achieved by the men of the Investigator. In recognition of the good work which he had performed, the Royal Geographical Society awarded Collinson its gold medal in 1858; but he had expected some official reward, and was much mortified by the scanty acknowledgment his service received. He never again applied for employment under the admiralty, though he acted on commissions on the naval defence of the Canadian lakes, and of the United Kingdom generally.

He attained his flag in 1862; became a vice-admiral in 1869, and admiral, on the retired list, in 1875, in which year he was also made a K.C.B. In 1857 he settled at Ealing, and there, in the society of his mother and sisters, he spent the remainder of his life. In 1862 he was elected an elder brother of the Trinity House, and in 1875 to be deputy-master, an appointment rarely conferred on an officer of the royal navy. He was an active fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, serving for many years on its council, and assisting in 1871 in editing the 'Hints to Travellers.' He also edited for the Hakluyt Society 'The Three Voyages of Martin Frobisher in Search of a Passage to Cathaia' (1867), and contributed in 1862 'Three Weeks in Canada' to Mr. Francis Galton's 'Vacation Tourists.' To the last, too, he took a great interest in the local affairs of his neighbourhood, with which he had closely identified himself, serving as churchwarden, on the local board, or in other offices of the parish and district. He died on 13 Sept. 1883 at Ealing, and was buried at the adjacent hamlet of Perivale, where a monument to his memory has been erected by subscription.

 COLLINSON, SEPTIMUS, D.D. (1739–1827), provost of Queen's College, Oxford, seventh son of Joseph and Agnes Collinson, was born at Gotree, near Huntsonby, Cumberland, on 11 Sept. 1739. He was brought up at Great Musgrave, Westmoreland, where his parents had purchased a small estate. He began his studies at Appleby grammar school, and then removed to Queen's College, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1763 and M.A. in 1767 (Cat. of Oxford Graduates, ed. 1851, p. 142). In 1778 he was presented to the rectories of Dowlish Wake and Dowlish West, Somersetshire. He graduated B.D. in 1792, and D.D. in 1793. For some years he was one of the city lecturers at Oxford. In 1794 he accepted the college living of Holwell, Dorsetshire, but remained there only about two years, as in 1796 he was appointed provost of Queen's College on the death of Dr. Fothergill. In 1798 he obtained the Margaret professorship of divinity, to which is annexed a prebend of Worcester Cathedral. His lectures on the Thirty-nine Articles, though much admired at the time of their delivery, have never been printed. He was a frequent preacher before the university. He died at the college lodge on 24 Jan. 1827.

 COLLIS, JOHN DAY (1816–1879), educational writer, son of the Rev. Robert Fitzgerald Collis, prebendary of Kilconnell, co. Galway, by Maria, daughter of Edward Bourke of Nun's Island, Galway, was born 24 Feb. 1816, and, after being educated at Rugby 1832–4 under Dr. Arnold, entered Merton College, Oxford, as a postmaster in the latter year. In 1835 he became Eaton scholar of Worcester College, proceeding B.A. 1836, M.A. 1841, and B.D. and D.D. 1860. He was elected to a fellowship at his college, and gained the Kennicott, and Pusey and Ellerton Hebrew scholarships, 1839–41. Having been nominated to the head-mastership of Bromsgrove in December 1842, that school, through his indomitable energy, grew to be one of the best educational establishments in England. The tercentenary of the grammar school was celebrated on 31 March 1853. In 1856, through his exertions, the chapel was built at a cost of 1,500l., and new school rooms were erected and the old buildings enlarged and improved at a cost of 5,000l. He was nominated an honorary canon of Worcester Cathedral in 1854, and in 1856 was offered, but declined, the colonial bishopric of Grafton and Armidale. From 1863 to 1865 he held the Grinfield lectureship on the Septuagint at Oxford. His connection with Bromsgrove was severed in 1867 by his appointment to the vicarage of Stratford-on-Avon. During his incumbency Stratford church was restored and improved, and he completed the formation of the water terrace in the churchyard. He was the founder and first warden of Trinity College school at Stratford, 27 Jan. 1872. He married first, 18 June 1846, Josephine Martha, eldest daughter of John Chatfield Tyler of Kingswood, Gloucestershire, who died 16 Oct. 1868; and secondly, 11 Oct. 1871, Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Castleman of Chettle, Dorsetshire, and widow of Rear-admiral Douglas Curry