Hugh Owen (1761–23 December 1827) was an English churchman and topographer,

Archdeacon of Salop The Archdeacon of Salop is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield. The incumbent is Paul Thomas. History Shropshire was historically split between the diocese of Hereford (under the Archdeacon of Shropshi ...

from 1821.

Life

Owen was the only son of Pryce Owen, M.D., a physician of Shrewsbury, by his wife Bridget, only daughter of John Whitfield. He was educated at

Shrewsbury School Shrewsbury School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13 –18) in Shrewsbury. Founded in 1552 by Edward VI by Royal Charter, it was originally a boarding school for boys; girls have been admitted into ...

, then at St John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1783, and M.A. in 1807. Owen took holy orders in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

, being ordained deacon in 1784 and priest in 1785 by the

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and Wes ...

. In 1791 Owen was presented by Charles Bennet, 4th Earl of Tankerville to the vicarage of St. Julian, Shrewsbury; and from 1791 to 1800 was perpetual curate at Berwick near the town. In 1803 he was collated by Bishop John Douglas to the prebend of Gillingham Minor in Salisbury Cathedral; in 1819 he was presented by the dean and chapter of Exeter Cathedral to a portion of the vicarage of Bampton, Oxfordshire, and was also Rector of

Stapleton, Shropshire Stapleton () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Condover, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It neighbours the villages of Exfords Green and Dorrington, and is closely bypassed b ...

from 1819. Between 1798 and 1815 he was chaplain of the Shrewsbury Yeomanry Cavalry. He was a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...

, and filled the office of Mayor of Shrewsbury in 1819. Owen was collated by Bishop James Cornwallis on 27 December 1821 to the archdeaconry of Salop, and on 30 March 1822 to the prebend of Bishopshill in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

. On the death of his friend John Brickdale Blakeway in 1826, he succeeded him as minister of the

royal peculiar A royal peculiar is a Church of England parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocese and the province in which it lies, and subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, or in Cornwall by the duke. Definition The church par ...

St Mary's Church, Shrewsbury St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in St Mary's Place, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the care of the Churches C ...

, and he then resigned the church of St. Julian, though he continued to be portionist of the vicarage of Bampton. He died at Shrewsbury on 23 December 1827. His only son was

Edward Pryce Owen Edward Pryce Owen (3 March 1788 – 15 July 1863) was an English artist and Church of England clergyman. He was the only son of Archdeacon Hugh Owen (1761–1827) by his wife Harriett née Jeffreys. He was the twenty-fifth in male descent fro ...

Works

Owen's major work, with John Brickdale Blakeway, was ''A History of Shrewsbury'' (2 vols., London, 1825). He had already published, anonymously, ''Some Account of the ancient and present State of Shrewsbury'' (Shrewsbury, 1808 and 1810). To John Britton's ''Architectural Antiquities'' (vol. iv.) he contributed, with Blakeway, descriptions of

Wenlock Abbey Wenlock Priory, or St Milburga's Priory, is a ruined 12th-century monastery, located in Much Wenlock, Shropshire, at . Roger de Montgomery re-founded the Priory as a Cluniac house between 1079 and 1082, on the site of an earlier 7th-century mon ...

Ludlow Castle Ludlow Castle is a ruined medieval fortification in the town of the same name in the English county of Shropshire, standing on a promontory overlooking the River Teme. The castle was probably founded by Walter de Lacy after the Norman conqu ...

and Stokesay Castle.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Hugh 1761 births 1827 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Salop Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Mayors of places in Shropshire Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at Shrewsbury School Clergy from Shrewsbury