William Tooke (1744–1820) British clergyman and historian of Russia.

Tooke was the second son of Thomas Tooke (1705–1773) of St. John's, Clerkenwell, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of Thomas Mann of St. James's, Clerkenwell, whom he married in 1738. The family claimed connection with Sir Bryan Tuke and George Tooke.

William was educated at an academy at Islington kept by one John Shield. In 1771 Tooke obtained letters of ordination as deacon and priest from Richard Terrick as bishop of London and received from John Duncombe the offer of the living of West Thurrock, Essex, in the same year. This he declined on being appointed chaplain to the English church at Kronstadt. Three years later, on the resignation of Dr. John Glen King, Tooke was invited by the English merchants at St. Petersburg to succeed him as chaplain there. In this position he made the acquaintance of many members of the Russian nobility and episcopate, and also of the numerous men of letters and scientists of all nationalities whom Catherine II summoned to her court. He was a regular attendant at the annual diner de tolerance which the empress gave to the clergy of all denominations, and at which Gabriel, the metropolitan of Russia, used to preside. Among those whose acquaintance Tooke made was the French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet, then engaged on his statue of Peter the Great.

On 5 June 1783 he was elected Fellow of the Royal Society and on 14 May 1784 was admitted sizar of Jesus College, Cambridge, but neither resided nor graduated. Shortly afterwards he became a corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg and of the free economical society of St. Petersburg. While chaplain at St. Petersburg Tooke made frequent visits to Poland and Germany, some details of which are printed from his letters in John Nichols's Literary Anecdotes. At Konigsberg he made the acquaintance of Immanuel Kant.

In 1792 Tooke was left a fortune by a maternal uncle, returned to England and devoted himself to writing. In 1814 Tooke served as chaplain to the lord mayor of London, Sir William Domville and preached in that capacity several sermons, which were published separately.

Tooke resided during his latter years in Great Ormond Street, Bloomsbury, but moved to Guilford Street just before his death, which took place on 17 November 1820. He was buried on the 23rd in St. Pancras new burial-ground. An engraving by J. Collyer, after a portrait by Martin Archer Shee, is prefixed to his Lucian.

Source: Wikipedia