William Owtram

D.D. A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

(17 March 1626 – 23 August 1679) was a clergyman who published notable theological works. After leading the church of the House of Commons,

St. Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...

, he gained preferment as

Archdeacon of Leicester The Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominati ...

Life

Son of Robert Owtram, he was born at Barlow, near

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, on 17 March 1625–6. On 13 May 1642 he was admitted a sizar of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

, where he graduated B.A. in 1646. He was afterwards elected to a fellowship at Christ's College, where he graduated M.A. in 1649. In 1655 he held the university office of junior proctor, and in 1662 he was created D.D. His first church preferment was in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, and he subsequently obtained the rectory of

St. Mary Woolnoth St Mary Woolnoth is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on the corner of Lombard Street and King William Street near Bank junction. The present building is one of the Queen Anne Churches, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor. The paris ...

, London, which he resigned in 1666. In 1664 he was also Minister, but not Rector, of

. He stayed in London during

the plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pe ...

in 1665 On 30 July 1669 he was installed

. On 30 July 1670 he was installed prebendary of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

Death

Owtram died on 23 August 1679, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

, where a monument, with a Latin inscription, was erected to his memory. His will, dated 5 November 1677, was proved in London 3 September 1679 (P. C. C. 119, King) cited by DNB He bequeathed lands in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire, and left legacies to the children of his brother Francis Owtram, deceased, and of his sisters Barbara Burley and Mary Sprenthall, both deceased, and Jane Stanley, then living.J. L. Chester, ''The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers of the Collegiate Church Or Abbey of St. Peter, Westminster'', Volume 10 (1876), p. 197 An elaborate catalogue of his library was compiled by William Cooper, London, 1681, 4to. Owtram's widow lived forty-two years after him, until 4 October 1721''Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica''
by Frederic Madden,

Bulkeley Bandinel Bulkeley Bandinel (21 February 1781 – 6 February 1861) was a British scholar, ecclesiastic and librarian. Early life He was born in the parish of St Peter-in-the-East, Oxford, first-born son of Rev. Dr. James Bandinel of Netherbury by his wif ...

John Gough Nichols John Gough Nichols (1806–1873) was an English painter and antiquary, the third generation in a family publishing business with strong connection to learned antiquarianism. Life The eldest son of John Bowyer Nichols, he was born at his fathe ...

, accessed 8 November 2007 Owtram was a ''nervous and accurate writer.'' and an excellent preacher, and he was reputed to have extraordinary skill in rabbinical learning.

Major works

His principal work is ''De Sacrificiis libri duo; quorum altero explicantur omnia Judaeorum, nonnulla Gentium Profanarum Sacrificia; altero Sacrificium Christi. Utroque Ecclesiae Catholicae his de rebus Sententia contra Faustum Socinum, ejusque sectatores defenditur,'' London, 1677, 4to, dedicated to

Thomas Osborne, Earl of Danby Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, (20 February 1632 – 26 July 1712), was a prominent English politician. Under King Charles II (and known at the time as Lord Danby), he was the leading figure in the government for around five years i ...

. An English translation, entitled 'Two Dissertations on Sacrifices,' with additional notes and indexes by John Allen, was published in 1817. After his death Joseph Hindmarsh published under his name six ''Sermons upon Faith and Providence, and other subjects,'' London, 1680, but they are not genuine. In order to do justice to his memory, his relatives caused ''Twenty Sermons preached upon several occasions'' to be published from ''the author's own copies,'' by James Gardiner, D.D., afterwards Bishop of Lincoln (2nd ed., London, 1697.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owtram, William 1626 births 1679 deaths People from North East Derbyshire District Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Leicester Canons of Westminster