Henry Tozer (1602–1650) was an English priest and academic, a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

of royalist views, elected to the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of Divinity (academic discipline), divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and ...

but never sitting there.

Life

Born at

North Tawton North Tawton is a small town in Devon, England, situated on the river Taw. It is administered by West Devon Council. The population of the electoral ward at the census 2011 was 2,026. History Romans crossed the River Taw at what is now Newla ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, he matriculated at

Exeter College, Oxford Exeter College (in full: The Rector and Scholars of Exeter College in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England and the fourth-oldest college of the un ...

on 3 May 1621, and graduated

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) on 18 June 1623, and Oxford Master of Arts (MA Oxon) on 28 April 1626. He took holy orders, was appointed lecturer at St Martin's Church ( Carfax, Oxford) on 21 October 1632, and proceeded

Bachelor of Divinity In Western universities, a Bachelor of Divinity or Baccalaureate in Divinity (BD or BDiv; la, Baccalaureus Divinitatis) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded for a course taken in the study of divinity or related disciplines, such as theology ...

(BD) on 28 July 1636. Of puritan views, he was elected in 1643 to the Westminster Assembly, but refused to sit; he also declined the degree of

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(DD) when nominated for it on 6 June 1646. Tozer was appointed vicar of

Yarnton Yarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about southwest of Kidlington and northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,545. Archaeology Early Bronze Age decorated beakers have been found in the par ...

in 1644, but was an absentee. As bursar and sub-rector of Exeter College, Tozer managed the college in the absence of

George Hakewill George Hakewill (1578 or 1579 – 1649) was an English clergyman and author. Early life Born in Exeter, he studied at Alban Hall, Oxford, where he was a noted disputant and orator and in June 1596, only a year after his matriculation and a ...

, the rector. In March 1647 he was cited before the parliamentary visitors for continuing the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'', and for his known dislike of parliamentarians. In November he was summoned to Westminster before the parliamentary commission, and the following year was imprisoned for some days on refusing to give up the college books. He was expelled from his fellowship on 26 May 1648, and on 4 June turned out of St. Martin's Church by soldiers because he prayed for the king. The decree, however, was revoked on 2 November, and Tozer was allowed to travel for three years, retaining his room in Exeter College. Tozer then went to Holland, and became minister to the English merchants at

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, where he died on 11 September 1650; he was buried in the English church there.

Works

He was author of the following works published at Oxford: * ''Directions for a Godly Life, dedicated to his pupil Lorenzo Cary, son of Viscount Falkland'', 1628, 5th ed. 1640, 8th 1671, 10th 1680, 11th 1690, 13th 1706. * ''A Christian Amendment'', 1633. * ''Christus: sive Dicta Facta Christi'', 1634. * ''Christian Wisdome'', 1639.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tozer, Henry 1602 births 1650 deaths English conforming Puritans Westminster Divines Fellows of Exeter College, Oxford 17th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford People from the Borough of West Devon Clergy from Devon