John Morris (1595–1648) was an academic, Hebraist and the Regius Professor of Hebrew at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

from 1626. Born in

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, Morris took his B.A. at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

in 1613, gaining his M.A. in 1615, a B.D. in 1626 before being awarded a D.D. in 1634. He was chaplain of

All Souls College All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

in Oxford,

Canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of Christ Church, Oxford from 1634 to 1648, and Regius Professor of Hebrew at Oxford in 1626. Morris was Rector of Sarsden in Oxfordshire 1628, and vicar of St Mary's Church in Pyrton in Oxfordshire 1635. In his will Morris left investments sufficient to allow for £5 to be paid annually in perpetuity to

and to

with instructions that oriental books should be purchased for their respective libraries, stating that if either establishment failed to spend the money in time it was to be given to the other. Morris’s own collection of books are located in numerous libraries, including the

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Lambeth Palace Library Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite b ...

and the

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. The exact size of his library and how it came to be dispersed after his death is not known. His will contained no specific mention of his books, while all his personal estate was endowed to his wife Mary with smaller bequests to his sisters, nephews, nieces and goddaughter. In 1635 he married Mary ''née'' Dayrell (1614-1681) at Sunningwell, which at that time was in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. With her he had three sons: John Morris (1635-1682); Guy Morris (1635-), and Richard Morris (1640-). After his death he was mentioned in a letter of 1648 written by John Donne the Younger, who was petitioning for Morris's place as Canon of Christ Church, Oxford.Transcript of Folger V.b.201, petition of John Donne Junior, 1648

Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, John 1595 births 1648 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Doctors of Divinity 17th-century English Anglican priests Fellows of Christ Church, Oxford Christian Hebraists Regius Professors of Hebrew (University of Oxford)