William Jemmat (died 1678), also William Jemmet, was an English

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 ...

cleric and author.

Life

Born about 1596, Jemmat was from a prosperous family of

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. His mother Elizabeth Grove was buried, at the age of 81, in the churchyard of

St Giles' Church, Reading St Giles' Church is a Church of England parish church in the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. History St Giles' was one of the three original parish churches, along with St Mary's and St Laurence's, serving the medieval boro ...

, on 22 March 1650, was described in the

parish register A parish register in an ecclesiastical parish is a handwritten volume, normally kept in the parish church in which certain details of religious ceremonies marking major events such as baptisms (together with the dates and names of the parents), ma ...

as the "pious mother of three Jemmats, vicars of the parish successively". Educated at

Reading grammar school Reading School is a grammar school for boys with academy status in the English town of Reading, the county of Berkshire. It traces its history back to the school of Reading Abbey and is, thus, one of the oldest schools in England. There are no ...

, Jemmat went to

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

in 1610, and graduated B.A. there on 23 May 1614. Before he took his M.A., 25 February 1617, he moved to

Magdalen Hall Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colleg ...

, and shortly afterwards was ordained priest (15 June). Jemmat then spent a period in Reading, and married. While there he may have acted as an assistant to

Thomas Taylor Thomas Taylor may refer to: Military *Thomas H. Taylor (1825–1901), Confederate States Army colonel *Thomas Happer Taylor (1934–2017), U.S. Army officer; military historian and author; triathlete *Thomas Taylor (Medal of Honor) (born 1834), Am ...

. He moved to

Lechlade Lechlade () is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England, south of Birmingham and west of London. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable, although there is a right of navigation that contin ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, where he described himself as preacher of God's word (1624). About 1626 he became a licensed lecturer at

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a town located within the London Borough of Hounslow in West London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's or ...

, Middlesex, confirmed by

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

in 1632. By appointment of the House of Commons, Jemmat in 1642–3 was lecturer at

Dunstable Dunstable ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Bedfordshire, England, east of the Chiltern Hills, north of London. There are several steep chalk escarpments, most noticeable when approaching Dunstable from the ...

and

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable as ...

, and in the neighbourhood of

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...

. He became rector of

Nettlestead, Kent Nettlestead is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the road south-west of, and part of the Districts of England, borough of Maidstone. The parish includes Nettlestead Green and part of Seven Mile Lane. More than 800 people ...

, in 1643, a living he held to 1647, then returning to Isleworth as preacher. Jemmat became vicar of St Giles's, Reading, by grant of the House of Lords under the great seal, 20 December 1648; the former vicar, Jemmat's elder brother John, had been buried in the church on 10 December 1648. At the

English Restoration The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy in the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland took place in 1660 when King Charles II returned from exile in continental Europe. The preceding period of the Protectorate and the civil wars came to be ...

of 1660 Jemmat conformed, and retained his benefice for the rest of his life. He died at Reading on 28 Jan 1678, and was buried in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ove ...

of St Giles's Church on 31 January.

Works

Jemmat published: * ''A Spiritual Trumpet exciting and preparing to the Christian Warfare, sounded first in the utmost parts of the Lord's Camp to one Wing of the Army, now in the midst for the benefit of all. By Wm. Jemmat, M.A., preacher of God's Word at Lechlade in Gloucestershire'', London, 1624. * ''A Watchword for Kent, exhorting God's People to stir themselves up out of Security'', London, 1643. * ''The Rock, or a settled Heart in unsettled Times … being the Heads of some Sermons preached lately by William Jemmat, pastor of Nettlestead, co. Kent'', London, 1644. * ''A Practical Exposition of the Historical Prophecy of Jonah'', London, 1666. * ''Now and Ever'', London, 1666. His individual sermons were published in 1623, 1624, 1627, 1628, 1643, and 1644. He also edited works of Thomas Taylor 1576–1633, beginning with ''A Mappe of Rome'' (five sermons, 1620). He abridged John Preston's works (''An Abridgement of Dr Preston's Works'' 1648); and edited

Paul Baynes Paul Baynes (also Bayne, Baines; c. 1573 – 1617) was an English clergyman. Described as a "radical Puritan", he was unpublished in his lifetime, but more than a dozen works were put out in the five years after he died. His commentary on ''Ephesi ...

's ''Commentary upon the whole Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians'', London, 1656. According to Anthony Wood, he also translated works of

Thomas Goodwin Thomas Goodwin ( Rollesby, Norfolk, 5 October 160023 February 1680), known as "the Elder", was an English Puritan theologian and preacher, and an important leader of religious Independents. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and was impo ...

into Latin.

Family

On 11 October 1619 Jemmat married Anne Pocock at St Giles's Church, Reading. They had four surviving sons and two daughters.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Jemmat, William Year of birth missing 1678 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests English book editors