Philip Morant (6 October 1700 – 25 November 1770) was an English

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, author and historian.

Education

He was educated at

John Roysse John Roysse (1500 or 1501–1571) was an English mercer and benefactor of Abingdon School in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. Personal life John Roysse was probably connected with the Roysse family of East Hagbourne but there are few records appertaining ...

's Free School in Abingdon (now

Abingdon School Abingdon School is a day and boarding independent school for boys in Abingdon-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The twentieth oldest independent British school, it celebrated its 750th anniversary in 2006. The school was described as "highly ...

) and

Pembroke College, Oxford Pembroke College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, is located at Pembroke Square, Oxford. The college was founded in 1624 by King James I of England, using in part the endowment of merchant Thomas Tesdale, and was named after ...

, eventually taking his master's degree at

Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge Sidney Sussex College (referred to informally as "Sidney") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England. The College was founded in 1596 under the terms of the will of Frances Sidney, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), wife ...

in 1729.

Career

Ordained in 1722, he began his association with the

county of Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

with a curacy at

Great Waltham Great Waltham — also known as Church End — is a village and civil parish in the Chelmsford district, in the county of Essex. The parish contains the village of Ford End, and the hamlets of Broad's Green, Howe Street, Littley Green, Nor ...

near

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

in 1722. He was the Chaplain of the English Episcopal Church in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

from 1732 to 1734. In 1737 he became both the Rector of

St Mary-at-the-Walls The Colchester Arts Centre, is an arts centre in Colchester, Essex, which is located in a former Church of England parish church, the church of Saint Mary-at-the-Walls, a name derived from its proximity to the Roman town walls. The church may ha ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

as well as Rector of Aldham in Essex. During his time in Colchester, Morant wrote ''The History and Antiquities of Colchester'', published in 1748; and his

county history English county histories, in other words historical and topographical (or "Chorography, chorographical") works concerned with individual ancient counties of England, were produced by antiquarians from the late 16th century onwards. The content was ...

, ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Essex'', published in two volumes between 1763 and 1768. He also conducted a number of excavations of Roman sites in and around the town. He married Anne Stebbing in 1739 and they had a daughter, Anna Maria. In 1755, Philip Morant was elected to the Fellowship 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. Societ ...

. After the death of his wife, he moved to his son-in-law's house in

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

and was employed in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

, although he retained the

living Living or The Living may refer to: Common meanings *Life, a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects and dead organisms ** Living species, one that is not extinct *Personal life, the course of an individual human's life * Hu ...

of both his parishes. He died in 1770 and is buried at Aldham, where his

silhouette A silhouette ( , ) is the image of a person, animal, object or scene represented as a solid shape of a single colour, usually black, with its edges matching the outline of the subject. The interior of a silhouette is featureless, and the silhou ...

appears on the

village sign In many parts of England, an ornamental village sign is erected to announce the village name to those entering the village. They are typically placed on the principal road entrance or in a prominent location such as a village green. The design ...

. There is a contemporary memorial and a window of 1855 in his memory in the new church at Aldham (the memorial was moved in 1854), and there is a wooden plaque at St Mary-at-the-Walls dated 1966. The Morant Club was formed in Colchester in 1909 to investigate local archeology, but was dissolved in 1925. In 1965, The Norman Way Secondary School in Prettygate, Colchester was renamed

Philip Morant School and College Philip Morant School and College (originally known as Norman Way School) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located within the Prettygate suburb of Colchester, Essex. The school is named after Philip Morant, a local 18t ...

in his honour.

References

External links

* Genealogical information retrieved from the papers of Thomas Astle (1735-1803), Keeper of the records
Droet Morant or Drouet Mourant
18th-century English historians People from Essex People educated at Abingdon School 1700 births 1770 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Alumni of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge English antiquarians 18th-century antiquarians Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London {{UK-historian-stub

Education

Career

See also

References

External links