Background
He was born at Spalding, Lincolnshire, on 12 October 1724, the only surviving son, by his first wife, of Timothy Neve the antiquary.
He was born at Spalding, Lincolnshire, on 12 October 1724, the only surviving son, by his first wife, of Timothy Neve the antiquary.
He graduated Bachelor of Arts 1741, Master of Arts
He was admitted at Corpus Christi College, Oxford on 27 October 1737, at the age of thirteen, and was elected scholar in 1737 and fellow in 1747. 1744, Bachelor of Divinity 1753, and Doctor of Divinity 1758. In 1762 he was appointed by his college to the rectory of Letcomb-Bassett, Berkshire, but he vacated it two years later, on his preferment to the rectory of Godington, Oxfordshire, which he kept for the rest of his life.
From 1783 to his death in 1798 Neve held the Lady Margaret professorship of divinity at Oxford and the sixth prebendal stall in Worcester Cathedral.
He was also chaplain of Merton College, Oxford, and the second Bampton lecturer. He was partly paralysed for several years before his death, which took place at Oxford on 1 January 1798.