Henry William Majendie (1754–1830) was an English

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

and

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol. The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...

Life

His grandfather André de Majendie was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

in exile who settled at Exeter. His father John James Majendie was a canon of Windsor and was connected to the court, being an English tutor to Queen Charlotte of England,

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (Sophia Charlotte; 19 May 1744 – 17 November 1818) was Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland as the wife of King George III from their marriage on 8 September 1761 until the union of the two kingdoms ...

. He was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey Londo ...

and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1776; though he did not have an honours degree, he was made fellow in the same year, in the vacancy caused by the departure of

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English clergyman, Christian apologist, philosopher, and utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument for the existence of God in his work ''Natu ...

. One historian, noting his mediocre academic record, thought that his subsequent honours "came rather too easily to him". In 1779

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

arranged for Majendie to teach and supervise

Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educa ...

aboard ; for this position, he formally had the rank of midshipman. In 1781 he was named preceptor of Prince William. William's biographer states that he liked and respected his tutor, but that Majendie's character was not strong enough to have much influence on his pupil. He was ordained priest in 1783, and became vicar of Bromsgrove,

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. He was canon of Windsor from 1785 to 1798, becoming vicar of

Nether Stowey Nether Stowey is a large village in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, South West England. It sits in the foothills of the Quantock Hills (England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just below Over Stowey. The parish of Nether Stowey ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

in 1790 and proceeding D.D. in 1791; while in Somerset he befriended Thomas Poole, the supporter of

Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge (; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake ...

. He was vicar of

Hungerford Hungerford is a historic market town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, west of Newbury, east of Marlborough, northeast of Salisbury and 60 miles (97 km) west of London. The Kennet and Avon Canal passes through the town alongside the ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

from 1793 to 1798, and a canon of St. Paul Cathedral from 1798. He was bishop of Chester from 1800, and then of Bangor, from 1809. He died on 9 July 1830, at the house of his son the Revd Stuart Majendie, at Longdon near

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

. On 11 April 1785, he married Anne Routledge (d. 1836) of Stapleton, Cumberland; they had thirteen children. His son Edward died at Christ Church, Oxford in 1825 from the bursting of a blood vessel from overreading. A daughter Katherine married Henry Fynes Clinton, MP, and another, Louisa married Sir George Henry Hewett, 2nd Baronet. His grandson was Colonel Sir

Vivian Dering Majendie Colonel Sir Vivian Dering Majendie, (18 July 1836 – 25 March 1898) was a British engineer who was one of the first bomb disposal experts. He served as Chief Inspector of Explosives to Queen Victoria from 1871 until his death in 1898.

KCB, RA, Chief Inspector of Explosives from 1871 to 1898.

References

External links

*
Dictionary of National BiographyClerical career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majendie, Henry William 1764 births 1830 deaths People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Bishops of Bangor Bishops of Chester Canons of Windsor 19th-century Church of England bishops 19th-century Welsh Anglican bishops