Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Cayley, Arthur

1386039Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 09 — Cayley, Arthur1887Gordon Goodwin

CAYLEY, ARTHUR (d. 1848), biographer, was the son of Arthur Cayley, third son of Sir George Cayley, bart., of Brompton, Yorkshire, by his wife Anne Eleanor Shultz (Foster, Pedigrees of Yorkshire Families, ii.) He received his academical education at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1796 as fourth wrangler, but is said to have been refused a fellowship on account of his political opinions (Biog. Dict. of Living Authors, 1816, p. 59). When the ‘Anti-Jacobin Review’ was started in 1798, Cayley became an occasional contributor; he also attempted some satire in the manner of the ‘New Bath Guide.’ He subsequently took orders, and in 1814 was presented to the rectory of Normanby, Yorkshire. He died at York on 22 April 1848, aged 72 (Gent. Mag. 1848, xxx. 101). Cayley married Lucy, eldest daughter of his uncle, the Rev. Digby Cayley, rector of Thormanby. He was the author of: 1. ‘The Life of Sir Walter Ralegh, Knt.,’ 2 vols. 4to, London, 1805 (second edition, 2 vols. 8vo, London, 1806), a work not distinguished either for depth of research or grace of style. The same must be said of 2. ‘Memoirs of Sir Thomas More, with a new Translation of his Utopia, also his History of King Richard III, and his Latin Poems,’ 2 vols. 4to, London, 1808.

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