Introduction

Biography

William was the son of Will­iam Dodd, vi­car of Bourne, and Eli­za­beth Chan­nel.

William the young­er was edu­cat­ed at Clare Col­lege, Cam­bridge (1746–49, BA 1750, MA 1759, LLD 1766).

He was or­dained at Gon­ville and Cai­us Col­lege in 1752, and ap­point­ed cur­ate at All Saints’ Church, West Ham.

He lat­er lec­tured at West Hamp­stead and was a chap­lain at Mag­da­len House (1758); chap­lain to the king (1763–74); pre­ben­da­ry of Bre­con, Wor­ces­ter­shire (1763); rec­tor of Hock­liffe and Chal­grave, Bed­ford­shire (1772); and vi­car of Wing, Buck­ing­ham­shire (1775–77).

A po­pu­lar preach­er, Dodd ed­it­ed the Chris­tians Ma­ga­zine in the 1760s, and tu­tored the son of the earl of Ches­ter­field.

Dodd was known for liv­ing be­yond his means, and was nick­named the Ma­ca­ro­ni Par­son due to his col­or­ful at­tire and prof­li­gate ways.

In Feb­ru­ary 1777, des­per­ate to pay off cred­it­ors, Dodd forged a for­mer stu­dent’s name to a £4,200 let­ter of cre­dit. He was con­vict­ed in a fa­mous trial, and des­pite at­tempts by Sam­uel Johns­on to win cle­men­cy, was hanged at Ty­burn.

Works

• Account of…the Mag­da­len Cha­ri­ty, 1761 and lat­er edi­tions