Robert Ussher (1592–1642) was an Irish Protestant Provost of

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

and

Bishop of Kildare The Bishop of Kildare was an episcopal title which took its name after the town of Kildare in County Kildare, Ireland. The title is no longer in use by any of the main Christian churches having been united with other bishoprics. In the Roman Cath ...

Life

The youngest son of

Henry Ussher Henry Ussher (1550 – 2 April 1613) was an Irish Protestant churchman, a founder of Trinity College, Dublin, and Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh. Life The second of five sons of Thomas Ussher by Margaret (d. January 1597), daughter of ...

, Archbishop of Armagh and his first wife Margaret Eliot, daughter of Thomas Elliott of Balreask, he was educated at Trinity College Dublin, being made fellow in 1611, and graduating B.A. 1612, M.A. 1614, vice provost 1615; B.D. 1621. He was

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of St. Audoen'sChurch, Dublin (1617); rector of Ardstraw (1617); prebendary of Dromaragh (1624); and rector of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

(1629). On the death in 1627 of Sir William Temple, there was a disputed election to the Provostship. The senior Fellows elected Joseph Mead, who declined; the junior Fellows elected Ussher (14 April 1627), and he was sworn in the same day. He was set aside by royal letter in favour of

William Bedell The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. ( ga, Uilliam Beidil; 15717 February 1642), was an Anglican churchman who served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore, as well as Provost of Trinity College Dublin. Early life He was born at Black Notley in Essex, and ...

, who was sworn in on 16 August. On Bedell's promotion as

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishopr ...

, Ussher was again elected (3 October 1629), and sworn on 13 January 1630. He owed his appointment to a temperate letter in his favour by his cousin,

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ident ...

, to whom an appeal had been made. He was an able preacher, he promoted the study of the Irish language, and he defended the charter rights of the college; but was considered too dovish by the formidable

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford, (13 April 1593 ( N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament and was a supporter of King Charles I. From 1 ...

. On 11 August 1634 he resigned the Provostship on being appointed Archdeacon of Meath. On 25 February 1635, he was consecrated Bishop of Kildare. He died at Panta Birsley, near Ellesmere,

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

, on 7 September 1642, and was buried at Dudleston (Doddleston) Chapel, near Oswestry. He married Jane, eldest daughter of Francis Kynaston, of Panta Birsley, and left children. His early death at fifty was thought by many to have been hastened by the troubles of the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ussher, Robert 1592 births 1642 deaths Anglican bishops of Kildare Archdeacons of Meath People from County Kildare Provosts of Trinity College Dublin 17th-century Irish people