Zachary Pearce, sometimes known as Zachariah (8 September 1690 – 29 June 1774), was an English

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol. The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...

and

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

. He was a controversialist and a notable early critical writer defending

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

, attacking

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellen ...

's 1732 edition of ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' the following year.

Life

Pearce was born the son of Thomas or John Pearce, a distiller, in 1690 in the parish of St Giles,

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and Sou ...

. He first attended

Great Ealing School Great Ealing School was situated on St Mary's Road, Ealing W5 London and was founded in 1698. In its heyday of the 19th century, it was as famous as Eton or Harrow, being considered ''"the best private school in England"''. History The school ...

. and then

Westminster School (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Hea ...

. He graduated BA from

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 ...

in 1713/4 and MA in 1717. He was Fellow of

(1716–1720) ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' and chaplain to the Lord Chancellor,

Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, (23 July 1666 – 28 April 1732) was an English Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1710. He was Lord Chief Justice from 1710 to 1718 and acted briefly as one of the regents befo ...

. Parker became his patron, to whom Pearce dedicated an edition of the ''

De oratore ''De Oratore'' (''On the Orator''; not to be confused with ''Orator'') is a dialogue written by Cicero in 55 BC. It is set in 91 BC, when Lucius Licinius Crassus dies, just before the Social War and the civil war between Marius and Sulla, du ...

'' of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

. He became rector of Stapleford Abbots, Essex (1719–1722) and St Batholemew, Royal Exchange (1720–1724) He was vicar of

St Martin-in-the-Fields St Martin-in-the-Fields is a Church of England parish church at the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, London. It is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. There has been a church on the site since at least the mediev ...

, London, in 1726. He was then

Dean of Winchester The Dean of Winchester is the head of the Chapter of Winchester Cathedral in the city of Winchester, England, in the Diocese of Winchester. Appointment is by the Crown. The first incumbent was the last Prior, William Kingsmill, Catherine Ogl ...

in 1739,

in 1748, and

in 1756. In 1761 he turned down the position of

bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. He was

Dean of Westminster The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the British monarch (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbu ...

(1756–1768). He was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

in June 1720. Towards the end of

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a "natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the grea ...

's life, Pearce assisted him on

chronology Chronology (from Latin ''chronologia'', from Ancient Greek , ''chrónos'', "time"; and , '' -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. I ...

There is a monument to Pearce in the

Church of St Peter and St Paul, Bromley St Peter and St Paul is a church in the town of Bromley, Borough of Bromley, in south east London. Known familiarly as Bromley Parish Church, it is not far from Bromley High Street and approximately halfway between Bromley North and Bromley S ...

. He had married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Adams, a distiller, of Holborn.

Works

''The Miracles of Jesus Vindicated'' (1729) was written against Thomas Woolston. ''A Reply to the Letter to Dr. Waterland'' was against

Conyers Middleton Conyers Middleton (27 December 1683 – 28 July 1750) was an English clergyman. Mired in controversy and disputes, he was also considered one of the best stylists in English of his time. Early life Middleton was born at Richmond, North Yorkshir ...

, defending

Daniel Waterland Daniel Cosgrove Waterland (14 March 1683 – 23 December 1740) was an English theologian. He became Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge in 1714, Chancellor of the Diocese of York in 1722, and Archdeacon of Middlesex in 1730. Waterland opposed ...

; Pearce engaged in this controversy as a former student of

William Wake William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737. Life Wake was born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, and educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He took ...

. Other works were: *Cicero, ''Dialogi tres de oratore'' (1716) *

Longinus Longinus () is the name given to the unnamed Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance and who in medieval and some modern Christian traditions is described as a convert to Christianity. His name first appeared in the apocryphal G ...

, ''De sublimitate commentarius'' (1724) *Cicero, ''De officiis libri tres'' (1745) He also published sermons; he preached at the funeral of

Sir Hans Sloane Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...

.Chelsea – (part 2 of 3) , British History Online
British-history.ac.uk (2003-06-22). Retrieved on 2012-06-15.

References

*''Lives of Dr. Edward Pocock, the Celebrated Orientalist, by Dr. Twells; of Dr. Zachary Pearce, Bishop of Rochester, and of Dr. Thomas Newton, Bishop of Bristol, by Themselves; and of the Rev. Philip Skelton, by Mr. Bundy'' (1818)
Royal Society Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearce, Zachary 1690 births 1774 deaths Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge Bishops of Bangor Bishops of Rochester 18th-century Church of England bishops Deans of Westminster Deans of Winchester Fellows of the Royal Society English sermon writers 18th-century Welsh Anglican bishops 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians