J. R. Worsley

John Worsley, born in Hertford in 1696, was an English scholar and educator who dedicated fifty years of his life to teaching at Hertford Castle. His scholarly pursuits led him to undertake a translation of the New Testament into the English of his time. This endeavor was notable for being potentially the first such effort since the King James Bible and for omitting the traditional verse divisions.

Worsley's translation was published posthumously in 1770 through a subscription effort. Edited by Matthew Bradshaw and Worsley's son, Samuel, the work aimed to make the text more accessible by replacing archaic language. The Monthly Review reportedly approved of its substitutions for outdated terms. Beyond his New Testament translation, Worsley also authored grammatical tables and Latin-English educational materials. He passed away in Hertford in 1767.

For half a century, John Worsley served as a schoolmaster in Hertford, conducting his educational activities from Hertford Castle. His academic interests extended to classical Greek scholarship. Worsley's most significant scholarly undertaking was his translation of the New Testament. This project aimed to render the text into contemporary English, a departure from earlier versions. It is believed to be the first such attempt since the widely recognized King James Bible. A distinctive feature of his translation was the omission of the conventional verse divisions, suggesting an effort to present the text in a more continuous narrative flow.

Worsley's translation of the New Testament was not published during his lifetime. It was brought to publication in 1770, after his death in 1767, through a process of public subscription. The task of preparing the translated text for publication was undertaken by Matthew Bradshaw and one of Worsley's sons, Samuel. The translation sought to modernize the language, replacing words that had become obsolete or less common in everyday speech, such as 'mote,' with more current equivalents like 'chaff' or 'splinter.' This approach to linguistic modernization received favorable commentary from the Monthly Review, which noted its success in updating the text for contemporary readers.

In addition to his translation work, John Worsley contributed to educational literature with the publication of grammatical tables in 1736. He also produced Exemplaria Latino-Anglica in 1745, a work likely related to Latin and English language instruction. A further educational text, A Short, Plain and Comprehensive Grammar for the Latin Tongue, was published in 1771, the year after his New Testament translation. Worsley married Grace Hughes around 1727, and they had at least two sons. One son, also named John, succeeded him as schoolmaster and became the father of Israel Worsley. Another son, Samuel, assisted in the posthumous publication of the New Testament translation.