{{short description|Anglican clergyman and founder of St Mark's English Church, Florence}} {{use dmy dates|date=February 2014}} {{use British English|date=February 2014}} {{Infobox person | name = Charles Tooth | image = <!-- just the filename, without the File: or Image: prefix or enclosing brackets --> | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1831|2|14}} | birth_place = Cranbrooke, Kent | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1894|8|2|1831|2|14}} | death_place = Gibraltar | other_names = | occupation = Anglican clergyman | known_for = Founder of St Mark's English Church, Florence }} The Reverend '''Charles Tooth''' was an Anglican clergyman and founder of St Mark's English Church, Florence.{{r|smf-history}}

==Early life== Charles Tooth was born 14 February 1831 in Cranbrooke, Kent<!-- parents' residence -->. He was the son of Robert Tooth (1799–1867{{sfn|Bayley|2010|p=3}}) and Mary Ann Reader (c. 1801&nbsp;– 1845).

Tooth became managing partner of the Tooth Brothers' brewery (later Crescent Brewery) in Burton upon Trent in 1855.{{sfn|Bayley|2010|p=14}} This was founded mainly to export beer to the business run by his brothers Robert (1821–1893), Edwin and Frederick in Sydney, Australia{{sfn|Walsh|1976}} where demand for beer had increased as a result of the Australian gold rushes.{{sfn|Bayley|2010|pp=10–11}} It closed after financial problems early in the next decade.{{sfn|Bayley|2010|pp=20–21}} He was author or coauthor of patents related to brewing.{{sfn|''Journal of the Society of Arts'' 1856–7}}

==Ministry== [[File:Chiesa di st mark, interno 11.JPG|alt=A view down the nave towards the altar. Smooth red columns support cream arches with grey-blue floral decorations. There is a round window above the altar.|thumb|Interior of St Mark's English Church, Florence]] Tooth was admitted as a fellow-commoner to Downing College in 1860 and graduated from the University of Cambridge with a B.A. in 1864<!-- Bayley says 1862 -->.{{sfn|Venn|1954|p=208}} He was ordained deacon in 1863 and priest in 1864{{sfn|Venn|1954|p=208}} (his brothers Arthur and William Augustus also studied at Cambridge and were ordained in the same year).{{sfn|Bayley|2010|p=22}}

He served as curate in Uxbridge (then in Middlesex) 1863–65, was perpetual curate of St George's,{{r|St-George}} Falfield, Gloucestershire 1865–71<!-- ref St-George says 1870 -->, vicar of Grandborough, Warwickshire 1871–72 and rector of St Mark's, Snow Hill in Shelton, Staffordshire 1872–75.{{sfn|Venn|1954|p=208}}

Tooth moved to Tuscany for health reasons{{sfn|Mittler|2007|p=4}} in 1876,{{sfn|Mittler|2011|p=48}} where he was the Anglican chaplain in Siena.{{sfn|Mittler|2011|pp=48–9}} He founded St Mark's as a centre of worship for Anglo-Catholic members of the Anglican Church in Florence. He started an independent house church at 1 Via dei Serragli in 1877 to teach Anglo-Catholic principles and celebrate the Eucharist daily during the week. In 1880,{{sfn|Schreiner|2001|p=90}} Tooth purchased a 15th-century palazzo to meet the new congregation's needs. The building was altered by Tooth, who turned the ground floor into a church with nave, aisles, transept and chancel,{{sfn|Schreiner|2001|p=90}} and seating 400.<ref name="Brucato-2013">{{cite journal |last=Brucato |first=Haley |date=11 April 2013 |title=More than Meets the Eye |url=http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=8410 |journal=The Florentine |issue=181 |access-date=1 July 2013 |archive-date=9 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509120747/http://theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=8410 |url-status=live }}</ref> John Roddam Spencer Stanhope designed and created the wall and ceiling decorations at his own expense.<ref name="Schreiner-quoting-Varty">{{cite journal |last=Schreiner |first=Berenice |date=Spring 2001 |title=The Collaboration of G. F. Bodley & J. R. Spencer Stanhope in Florence 1892–1904 |url=http://www.morrissociety.org/publications/JWMS/SP01.14.2.Schreiner.pdf |journal=Journal of William Morris Studies |issn=0084-0254 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=90–95 }}</ref> The first Eucharist was celebrated there on 1 May 1881, although chaplain and church were not licensed for service by the bishop until 1884.{{sfn|Mittler|2011|p=49}} He remained chaplain of St Mark's until 1894.{{sfn|Venn|1954|p=208}}

==Legacy== [[File:Interior of St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd.JPG|thumb|Interior of St Mark's Church, Brithdir, Gwynedd]] He married Eliza Tabberer (died 1892) in 1855.

Charles Tooth married Louisa Janette Anne Edwards (died 1899) in 1894. Louisa Tooth was the daughter of Edward Lloyd Edward whose family owned Cerrig Llwydion Hall in Denbighshire. Her first husband was Richard Meredyth Richards, a JP and high sheriff for the county of Merionethshire.

Charles Tooth died the same year, on 2 August 1894 in Gibraltar.{{sfn|Bayley|2010|pp=4, 22}}

Louisa Tooth, his widow, commissioned the building of St Mark's Church, Brithdir in Gwynedd, North Wales in his memory.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Brithdir|url=https://friendsoffriendlesschurches.org.uk/brithdir/|access-date=2021-09-26|website=Friends of Friendless Churches|language=en-GB}}</ref> It was designed by Henry Wilson in the style of the Arts and Crafts movement. Building started in 1895 and the church was consecrated in 1898. It is designated a Grade&nbsp;I listed building by {{lang|cy|Cadw}} who describe it as "an exceptionally important and advanced work for its date".{{r|cadw}} It is cared for by the Friends of Friendless Churches.<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{reflist |colwidth=35em |refs= <ref name="smf-history">{{cite web |title=Our History |url=http://stmarksitaly.com/church/history/ |publisher=St Mark's English Church |location=Florence |access-date=11 January 2014}}</ref>

<ref name="St-George">{{cite web |title=A Brief History of St George's Church |url=http://www.falfield.org.uk/history_st_george.html |publisher=falfield.org.uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315163448/http://www.falfield.org.uk/history_st_george.html |archive-date=15 March 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="cadw">{{National Historic Assets of Wales|num=16008 |desc=Church of St Mark |grade=I |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref> }} '''Citations''' {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal |last=Bayley |first=Paul |year=2010 |title=Toothless in Burton: A History of the Crescent Brewery, Burton upon Trent and in Particular its Association with the Tooth Family of Cranbrook, Kent and Sidney, Australia |journal=J. Brewery History Soc. |volume=134 |pages=2–49 |url=http://www.breweryhistory.com/journal/archive/134/Tooth.pdf }}<!-- --> * {{wikicite |ref={{harvid|''Journal of the Society of Arts'' 1856–7}} |reference=''Journal of the Society of Arts'':}} *: {{cite journal |date=19 December 1856 |page=75 |title=Applications for patents and protection allowed |journal=Journal of the Society of Arts |volume=5 |issue=213 |jstor=41323630 |quote=Dated 21st November, 1856: 2758. Charles Tooth, Burton-on-Trent&nbsp;– Improvements in charging or filling and filling up casks or other vessels for containing fermenting liquids.}} *: {{cite journal |date=4 December 1857 |page=48 |title=Applications for patents and protection allowed |journal=Journal of the Society of Arts |volume=6 |issue=263 |jstor=41334428 |quote=Dated 20th October, 1857: 2684. Charles Tooth and William Watkin Wynne, Burton-on-Trent&nbsp;– An improved refrigerator or apparatus for cooling or attempering liquids.}}<!-- --> * {{cite web |last=Mittler |first=Penny |year=2007 |title=The Church of England Chaplaincies in Florence since 1820 |url=http://stmarksitaly.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/20131219-StMarkHistoryBrochure.pdf |access-date=19 January 2014 |publisher=St Mark's English Church |location=Florence }}<!-- --> * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Mittler |first=Penny |year=2011 |orig-year=first published 2007 |chapter=Only Connect: A Case Study of the Influence of the English Church and the Non-Catholic Cults in the Florence of the Risorgimento |pages=40–52 |editor1-last=Faltin |editor1-first=L. |editor2-last=Wright |editor2-first=M. |title=The Religious Roots of Contemporary European Identity |location=London |publisher=Continuum Press |isbn=978-1-4411-9571-5 }}<!-- --> * {{cite book |author=<!-- none given --> |editor-last=Mosley |editor-first=Charles |year=2003 |title=Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage |edition=107th |volume=2 |page=2428 |location=Wilmington, Delaware |publisher=Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) |ref={{sfnRef|''Burke's Peerage''}} }}<!-- --> * {{cite encyclopedia |last=Walsh |first=G. P. |year=1976 |title=Tooth, Robert (1821–1893) |encyclopedia=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/tooth-robert-4731<!-- version consulted, /text7851 --> }}<!-- --> * {{VennAC |name=Tooth, Charles |part=2 |volume=6 |page=208 }}<!-- --> {{refend}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tooth, Charles}} Category:People from Cranbrook, Kent Category:19th-century English Anglican priests Category:English Anglo-Catholics Category:Anglo-Catholic clergy Category:Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Category:1831 births Category:1894 deaths