Meredith Hanmer (1543–1604) was a
Welsh clergyman, known as a controversialist, historian, and translator. He was considered embittered, by the
Lord Deputy of Ireland,
William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh; but he appears now as a shrewd observer of the Protestant and nonconformist life of Ireland as founded around
Trinity College, Dublin.
Life
The son of Richard ap David ap Howel Goch of Pentre-pant,
Selattyn, near
Oswestry, he was born at
Porkington in
Shropshire
Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
in 1543. He was educated at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he obtained a chaplaincy in 1567, and graduated B.A. 1568, M.A. 1572, and D.D. 1582. On 7 June 1575, by a special dispensation, he was allowed to supplicate for the degree of B.D., as a nobleman's chaplain, while of less than the customary standing; but the degree was not granted till 1581.
He was vicar of
St Leonard's, Shoreditch, from 8 December 1581 till June 1592, and vicar of
St Mary's, Islington from 4 November 1583 to 5 September 1590. At Shoreditch he made himself notorious by removing the
monumental brass
A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carve ...
es in the church, which he was believed to have done for his own gain. In 1584, when
George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury was examined as to the circulation of a libel that he had got
Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567.
The only surviving legit ...
by child, Hanmer appeared as a witness against the earl, and is described by
William Fleetword,
recorder of London, who appeared in the case, as 'regarding not' an oath, 'and as a very bad man'. According to the consistorial acts of the diocese of Rochester, Hanmer was charged between 1588 and 1590 with having celebrated a marriage without
banns or license.
He crossed over to Ireland about 1591. In that year he appears as archdeacon of Ross and vicar of
Timoleague. He was commended to
Francis Walsingham by
Christopher Carleill as a diligent preacher. On 4 December 1593 he was appointed treasurer of
Waterford Cathedral, vacant by the deprivation of
Thomas Granger; in April 1594 vicar-choral of
Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin
Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Irish: ''Ardeaglais Theampall Chríost''), is the cathedral of the Diocese of Dublin and Glendalough, United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the e ...
; on 8 June 1595 prebendary of St Michan's in Christ Church; and on 1 November of the same year rector of the Blessed Virgin Mary de Borages, in Leighlin. On 1 June 1598 he was presented to the parish church of Muckalee, the vicarage of Rathpatrick, and the vicarage of Kylbeacon and Killaghy, all in
county Kilkenny
County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
, in the diocese of
Ossory. On 10 October in the following year he was presented to the rectory or wardenship of the new
college of the Blessed Mary of Youghal in the diocese of Cloyne (ib. 6345). He appears to have resigned this and his prebend of St Michan's in 1602. On 16 June 1603 he was appointed chancellor of
St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, and at the same time vicar of Fiddown and St John the Evangelist, and rector of Aglish-Martin.
He died in 1604, and was buried in
St Michan's Church,
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
. It is likely that he fell a victim to the
bubonic plague. Hanmer married at Shoreditch, 21 June 1581, Mary Austin, by whom he had four daughters.
Works
His ''Chronicle of Ireland'', first published by
Sir James Ware in 1633, is a scholarly work. He translated three early ecclesiastical historians -
Eusebius,
Socrates of Constantinople and
Evagrius Scholasticus - in 1576.
Hanmer also wrote:
*''The Great Bragge and Challenge of M. Champion ... confuted and answered by M.H.'', London, 1581.
*''The Jesuites Banner. ... With a Confutation of a late Pamphlet ... entitled A Brief Censure upon two Books written in Answeare to M. Champion's
ampion'soffer of disputation'', &c., London, 1581. These were works against
Edward Campion.
* ''The Baptizing of a Turke'', a sermon (on Matt, v. 16), preached 2 October 1586 at the collegiate church of St Katharine, London, 1586. This sermon was occasioned by the liberation of
galley slave
A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley, either a Convict, convicted criminal sentenced to work at the oar (''French language, French'': galérien), or a kind of human chattel, sometimes a prisoner of war, assigned to the duty of rowing.
...
s from the Spanish Caribbean, by
Sir Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
, of which one became a Christian convert, rather than take the passage offered back to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
.
[David B. Quinn, ''Explorers and Colonies: America, 1500-1625'' (1990), pp. 200-4.]
Notes
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanmer, Meredith
1543 births
1604 deaths
16th-century Welsh Anglican priests
16th-century Welsh historians
Welsh translators
16th-century translators
Archdeacons of Ross, Ireland
Burials at St Michan's Church, Dublin
16th-century Anglican theologians
17th-century Anglican theologians