Thomas Ward (13 April 1652 – 4 March 1708) was an English author who converted to Catholicism.

Biography

Ward was born at Danby Castle near Guisborough in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

, just south of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

, in 1652, as the son of a farmer and educated as a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

at Pickering School.

Henry Wharton Henry Wharton (9 November 1664 – 5 March 1695) was an English writer and librarian. Life Wharton was descended from Thomas, 2nd Baron Wharton (1520–1572), being a son of the Rev. Edmund Wharton, vicar of Worstead, Norfolk. Born at Worstead ...

asserted that he had been a

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

scholar, but this is not certain. Having acted for a time as

private tutor Tutoring is private academic support, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides ...

, he was led by his theological studies to become a Catholic. He travelled in France and Italy, and for five or six years held a commission in the papal guard, seeing service against the Ottoman Turks. On the accession of James II Stuart in 1688 he returned to England and employed his learning in controversy. He died at St-Germain, France, 1708.

Writings

His most popular work, ''England's Reformation'', is a poem in four cantos in the metre of ''

Hudibras ''Hudibras'' is a vigorous satirical poem, written in a mock-heroic style by Samuel Butler (1613–1680), and published in three parts in 1663, 1664 and 1678. The action is set in the last years of the Interregnum, around 1658–60, immediately ...

''. It first appeared posthumously in 1710, and since then in several editions. His ''Errata to the Protestant Bible'', based on Gregory Martin's work on the same subject, has been frequently republished since its appearance in 1688, once with a preface by Lingard (1810).

Bishop John Milner John Milner (14 October 1752 – 19 April 1826) was an English Roman Catholic bishop and controversialist who served as the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District from 1803 to 1826. Early life At the age of twelve he was sent to Sedgley Par ...

wrote a pamphlet to defend it from one of the Protestant attacks which its republication early in the nineteenth century provoked. His other works include: ''Speculum Ecclesiasticum'' 'Church mirror' (London, 1686?); ''Some Queries to the Protestants'' (London, 1687); ''Monomachia'' (London, 1678), written about

Archbishop Tenison Thomas Tenison (29 September 163614 December 1715) was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs. Life He was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the son ...

, as also was ''The Roman Catholic Soldier's Letter'' (London, 1688). He also published in 1688 in two broadsheets an

epitome An epitome (; gr, ἐπιτομή, from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "t ...

of church history, under the title ''The Tree of Life''. ''The Controversy of Ordination truly stated'' (London, 1719) and ''Controversy with Mr. Ritschel'' (1819) were posthumous works. He left two unpublished manuscripts on the Divine Office now in the British Museum, one on the pope's supremacy in the possession of Mr. Gillow, one of the history of England, and others.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Thomas 1652 births 1708 deaths 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers English religious writers English Roman Catholics Converts to Roman Catholicism from Calvinism People from Guisborough 17th-century Roman Catholics