:''To be distinguished from his grandson
William Popple (colonial administrator) (1701–1764), government official and writer''.
William Popple (1638–1708) was an English Unitarian merchant, the translator of
John Locke
John Locke (; 29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704) was an English philosopher and physician, widely regarded as one of the most influential of Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers and commonly known as the "father of liberalism ...
's ''
A Letter Concerning Toleration''.
[C. Robbins ''Absolute Liberty: The Life and Thought of William Popple'', 1638-1708 Transactions of the Unitarian Historical Society, V 1967]
Life
He was son of Edmund Popple, sheriff of Hull in 1638, who married Mary, daughter of the Rev. Andrew Marvell, and sister of
Andrew Marvell the poet; he was therefore the nephew of Marvell, under whose guidance he was educated, and with whom he corresponded. He became a London merchant, and in 1676 was residing at
Bordeaux. Ten years later, he dated from there a small expository work, entitled ''A Rational Catechism'' (London, 1687).
He was appointed secretary to the board of trade in 1696, and became intimate with John Locke (a commissioner of the board from 1696 to 1700), whose ''Letter'' on toleration he was the first to translate from the Latin (London, 1689). Some manuscript translations in his hand are in the
British Museum (Add. MS. 8888).
He died in 1708, in the parish of
St Clement Danes
St Clement Danes is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. Although the first church on the site was reputedly founded in the 9th century by the Danes, the current ...
; his widow Mary was living in
Holborn in 1709.
References
;Attribution
External links
*
1638 births
1708 deaths
English Unitarians
{{England-bio-stub