William Mew (Mewe) (1602 – c.1669) was an English clergyman, a member of the

Westminster Assembly The Westminster Assembly of Divines was a council of divines (theologians) and members of the English Parliament appointed from 1643 to 1653 to restructure the Church of England. Several Scots also attended, and the Assembly's work was adopt ...

. He is known also for a drama, ''Pseudomagia'', and for the contribution to beekeeping of the design for a transparent

hive A hive may refer to a beehive, an enclosed structure in which some honey bee species live and raise their young. Hive or hives may also refer to: Arts * ''Hive'' (game), an abstract-strategy board game published in 2001 * "Hive" (song), a 201 ...

Life

Mew was a graduate of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he was admitted in 1618 and was B.A. in 1622. Mew held also a B.D. degree. ''Pseudomagia'', a

Neo-Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

drama, is thought to have been performed at Emmanuel around 1626. On 29 November 1643 he preached a fast-day sermon to Parliament, later printed as ''The Robbing and Spoiling of Jacob and Israel''. He is mentioned for constant attendance in the Westminster Assembly. He was approached to answer

Milton's divorce tracts Milton's divorce tracts refer to the four interlinked polemical pamphlets—'' The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce'', '' The Judgment of Martin Bucer'', '' Tetrachordon'', and '' Colasterion''—written by John Milton from 1643–1645. They ar ...

, as he wrote in 1659 to

Richard Baxter Richard Baxter (12 November 1615 – 8 December 1691) was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymnodist, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he ...

. In this frank correspondence Baxter expressed his deepest fears and suspicions, becoming at one point (6 August 1659) "hysterical". He became vicar of

Eastington, Stroud Eastington is a village and civil parish in the Gloucestershire, England. It lies 4 miles west of Stroud and 9 miles south of Gloucester at the entrance to the Stroud Valley. It is west of the town of Stonehouse and south of Junction 13 of the ...

in Gloucestershire, for which the patron was

Nathaniel Stephens Nathaniel Stephens (1589 – 30 May 1660) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1653. He supported the Parliamentarian cause in the English Civil War. Biography Stephens was the son of Rich ...

, a local MP and one of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...

's colonels. Previously he had been a lecturer in London. Known as a preacher, he conformed in 1662. He was a commissioner for Gloucestershire in 1654. Mew's hive was made known by

Samuel Hartlib Samuel Hartlib or Hartlieb (c. 1600 – 10 March 1662)
M. Greengrass, "Hartlib, Samuel (c. 1600–1662)", ''Oxford D ...

. Mew's design followed a suggestion in

Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...

and proved influential, being adapted by

John Wilkins John Wilkins, (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an Anglican clergyman, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1668 until his death. Wilkins is one of the f ...

and Christopher Wren.

Life

Notes

Further reading