Sir Morris Ximenes (1762–1837), also known as Moses Ximenes, was a captain in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

and

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

landowner who had converted to

Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

from

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

Biography

Morris was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

about 1762. He was a member of the London Exchange, where he made a large fortune. In 1802, he was elected a warden of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, but declined to accept; and on being fined he resigned from the community and became converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

. However, "he embraced his new faith while expressing the most friendly feelings towards the professors of the old faith." In 1794, after the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, Ximenes raised a

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

of the 'Windsor Foresters' or Berkshire Fencible Cavalry, a home defence regiment, and was given the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. His brother David Ximenes, a

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the Eng ...

captain in the Regular Army, was commissioned into the Foresters as a lieutenant in January 1795. The regiment served in Lincolnshire and Scotland on anti-invasion and anti-smuggling duties. When it was disbanded in 1800 Morris Ximenes sought permission to raise a 'Troop of Gentlemen Cavalry' ( Yeomanry) in Berkshire. He offered to pay for its clothing and kit if the arms and accoutrements of the disbanded Windsor Foresters were transferred to it. Royal permission was granted through the

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ...

and the

Wargrave Rangers The Windsor Foresters, or more formally the Berkshire Fencible Cavalry, was a British regiment of cavalry raised for home defence in 1794. It served in Lincolnshire and Scotland on coastal defence and anti-smuggling duties until 1800. A second reg ...

was formed, with Ximenes as captain. All the Yeomanry were stood down at the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (french: la paix d'Amiens, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition The War of the Second Coalition (1798/9 – 1801/2, depending on perio ...

, but when war was resumed in 1803 the Wargrave Rangers were reactivated and the officers received new commissions in April. David Ximenes returned to full-pay service in the

29th Foot The 29th (Worcestershire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1694. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 36th (Herefordshire) Regiment of Foot to become the 1st Battalion, the Worcestershire Reg ...

, and Morris raised sufficient recruits for him to obtain promotion to major. In August 1803 Morris Ximenes offered to raise and pay for a corps of volunteer infantry to be attached to the Wargrave Rangers with wagons to travel in. It is not known if this proposal was taken up. Sir Morris Ximenes (as he had now become) retired from command of the Wargrave Rangers in March 1809 when he was appointed to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 2nd Berkshire Local Militia.Cormack.War Office, ''List of the officers''.
/ref> He afterwards served in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...

as Captain Ximenes. He was

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1806 and appointed high sheriff of both the counties of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and of Berkshire (1806). His chief residence was Bear Place at Hare Hatch, near

Wargrave Wargrave () is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many old ...

, in the latter county. He died in London in 1837. It was suggested that he was perhaps descended from

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, OFM (1436 – 8 November 1517), spelled Ximenes in his own lifetime, and commonly referred to today as simply Cisneros, was a Spanish cardinal, religious figure, and statesman. Starting from humble beginnings ...

,Frederick Marryat, Olla Podrida (1436–1517), twice regent of Spain and sometime Grand Inquisitor. (Ximenes and Jiménez: homonyms) His younger brother, Sir David Ximenes, had no connection with the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community.

Footnotes

Notes

References

*Picciotto, ''Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History''. * Andrew Cormack, 'Captain Moses Ximenes and the Berkshire Fencible Cavalry', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 97, No 389 (Summer 2019), pp. 109–19.
War Office, ''List of the officers of the several regiments and corps of fencible cavalry and infantry: of the officers of the militia (etc.)'' 22 June 1797.

The Napoleon Series.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ximenes, Morris 1762 births 1837 deaths English Jews English Anglicans Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism High Sheriffs of Kent High Sheriffs of Berkshire People from Wargrave British Army officers English knights English businesspeople 18th-century British Jews British Army personnel of the Peninsular War