ABSTRACT
Archbishop of Canterbury. Tait was born and educated in Edinburgh. He moved from Edinburgh High School to the University of Glasgow in 1827. Although born into a Presbyterian family, he decided to enter the ministry of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND. He joined Balliol College, Oxford in 1829 and was confirmed in the Church of England in 1830. After securing a first-class degree in classics in 1833, he taught in the university as a fellow and tutor of Balliol College and became one of the most respected tutors in the university, lecturing in logic and ethics. Tait was not drawn to the OXFORD MOVEMENT of the time and contributed to a public protest against Tract 90, in which JOHN HENRY NEWMAN attempted to show that the Calvinist THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES of the Church of England were compatible with Roman Catholic teaching. In 1842 Tait was appointed headmaster of Rugby School in succession to THOMAS ARNOLD, and in 1849 he became dean of Carlisle.
