Philip Hunt (priest)

Philip Hunt (1772–1838) was an English Anglican priest and antiquarian. Chaplain to Lord Elgin, he is now remembered as a figure in the history of the Elgin Marbles.

He was the son of Thomas Hunt of Newcastle-on-Tyne where he was brought up, was born in Herefordshire, and was educated at Newcastle Grammar School under Hugh Moises. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge in 1788 at age 16, becoming a scholar in 1791; he graduated B.A. in 1793, and M.A.in 1799.

Hunt was ordained deacon in 1794, by George Pretyman-Tomline, and became curate of Houghton Conquest in Bedfordshire. After graduating, Hunt had John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory as ecclesiastical patron. He was ordained priest in 1796, and was vicar of St Peter's Church, Bedford from 1799, a position he held to 1835.

Through a friend, John Brand who was rector of Maulden, Hunt became chaplain to Lord Elgin, who was Ambassador of Great Britain to the Ottoman Empire from 1799 to 1802. He joined Elgin's party sailing to Constantinople on HMS Phaeton. Elgin gave Hunt and William Richard Hamilton, his private secretary, the task of collecting antiquities. Hunt visited the Troad with Elgin in 1799.Joseph Dacre Carlyle, also on Elgin's staff, had been asked to search for manuscripts, particularly those related to the New Testament, and Hunt assisted him in a thorough investigation of monasteries in the Constantinople area and on the Prince Islands.

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