Blomfield, Charles James (1786–1857)

English bishop and classical scholar. He was bishop of Chester 1824–28 and London from 1828, where he engaged in the long overdue reforming of the organization of the church. He was particularly concerned with the building of many new churches, made necessary by the growth of the population, and personally superintended the organization of a scheme to build 50 simultaneously.

He was an able classical scholar; his editions of Aeschylus, Callimachus, and Euripides are particularly notable.

Blomfield was the son of a schoolmaster at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. From his father's school he proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1809. In 1810 he took holy orders and became incumbent of St Botolph's, Bishopsgate, nine years later. In 1822 he was appointed archdeacon of Colchester.