MAURICE, HENRY (1647-1691), cleric and author;
if the age recorded (44) on his memorial tablet in Jesus College chapel at Oxford is correct, he was b. in 1647, but Foster records his age at matriculation ‘at 16,’ in a year which would place his birth in 1648. He was the son of Thomas Maurice, B.D., perpetual curate of Llangristiolus, Anglesey, and his wife Sidney, daughter of Henry Perri (q.v.) — he was, therefore, of the Tudor of Penmynydd clan (see J. E. Griffith, Pedigrees, 106). From Beaumaris grammar school he went up to Jesus College, Oxford, graduated in Jan. 1667-8, was elected Fellow in 1670, proceeded D.D. in 1683, and was Margaret Professor of Divinity in 1691. He was companion and chaplain to Sir Leoline Jenkins (q.v.) till 1680, when he became chaplain to archbishop Sancroft. Apart from holding the sinecure rectory of Llandrillo-yn-Rhos, Denbs., from 1684 to 1691, his contact with Wales ceased with his school-days, so that it will suffice here to refer to the D.N.B. upon him — he was universally esteemed for his character and his scholarship; his debate with Richard Baxter on episcopacy may be mentioned. He d., unmarried, of the palsy, 30 Oct. 1691.
Bibliography:
- D.N.B.;
- Y Gwladgarwr, 1840, 289-92;
- [Hardy, Jesus College, 144-5].
Author:
Emeritus Professor Robert Thomas Jenkins, C.B.E., D.Litt., Ll.D., F.S.A., (1881-1969), Bangor.
