Sir Morris Ximenes (1762–1837), also known as Moses Ximenes, was a captain in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

and

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 ...

landowner who had converted to

Anglicanism Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

from

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Biography

Morris was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

about 1762. He was a member of the London Exchange, where he made a large fortune. In 1802, he was elected a warden of the

Bevis Marks Synagogue Bevis Marks Synagogue, officially Qahal Kadosh Sha'ar ha-Shamayim (), is an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located off Bevis Marks, Aldgate, in the City of London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congr ...

, but declined to accept; and on being fined he resigned from the community and became converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. However, "he embraced his new faith while expressing the most friendly feelings towards the professors of the old faith." In 1794, after the outbreak of the

French Revolutionary War The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted France against Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, Russia, and several other countries ...

, Ximenes raised a

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troo ...

of the 'Windsor Foresters' or Berkshire Fencible Cavalry, a home defence regiment, and was given the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. His brother David Ximenes, a

half-pay Half-pay (h.p.) was a term used in the British Army and Royal Navy of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to refer to the pay or allowance an officer received when in retirement or not in actual service. Past usage United Kingdom In the E ...

captain in the Regular Army, was commissioned into the Foresters as a lieutenant in January 1795. The regiment served in Lincolnshire and Scotland on anti-invasion and anti-smuggling duties. When it was disbanded in 1800 Morris Ximenes sought permission to raise a 'Troop of Gentlemen Cavalry' (

Yeomanry Yeomanry is a designation used by a number of units and sub-units in the British Army Reserve which are descended from volunteer cavalry regiments that now serve in a variety of different roles. History Origins In the 1790s, following the ...

) in Berkshire. He offered to pay for its clothing and kit if the arms and accoutrements of the disbanded Windsor Foresters were transferred to it. Royal permission was granted through the

Lord Lieutenant A lord-lieutenant ( ) is the British monarch's personal representative in each lieutenancy area of the United Kingdom. Historically, each lieutenant was responsible for organising the county's militia. In 1871, the lieutenant's responsibility ov ...

and the Wargrave Rangers was formed, with Ximenes as captain. All the Yeomanry were stood down at the

Treaty of Amiens The Treaty of Amiens (, ) temporarily ended hostilities between France, the Spanish Empire, and the United Kingdom at the end of the War of the Second Coalition. It marked the end of the French Revolutionary Wars; after a short peace it set t ...

, but when war was resumed in 1803 the Wargrave Rangers were reactivated and the officers received new commissions in April. David Ximenes returned to full-pay service in the 29th Foot, and Morris raised sufficient recruits for him to obtain promotion to major. In August 1803 Morris Ximenes offered to raise and pay for a corps of volunteer infantry to be attached to the Wargrave Rangers with wagons to travel in. It is not known if this proposal was taken up. Sir Morris Ximenes (as he had now become) retired from command of the Wargrave Rangers in March 1809 when he was appointed to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the 2nd Berkshire Local Militia.Cormack.War Office, ''List of the officers''.
/ref> He afterwards served in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

as Captain Ximenes. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Berkshire The High Sheriff of Berkshire, in common with other counties, was originally the King's representative on taxation upholding the law in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The word Sheriff evolved from 'shire-reeve'. The title of High Sheriff#United King ...

in 1805 and knighted in 1806. His chief residence was Bear Place at Hare Hatch, near

Wargrave Wargrave () is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many ol ...

in Berkshire. He died in London in 1837. It was suggested that he was perhaps descended from

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, OFM (1436 – 8 November 1517) was a Spanish cardinal, religious figure, and statesman. Starting from humble beginnings he rose to the heights of power, becoming a religious reformer, twice regent of Spain, ...

,Frederick Marryat, Olla Podrida (1436–1517), twice regent of Spain and sometime Grand Inquisitor. (Ximenes and Jiménez: homonyms) His younger brother, Sir David Ximenes, had no connection with the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

community.

Footnotes

Notes

References

*Picciotto, ''Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History''. * Andrew Cormack, 'Captain Moses Ximenes and the Berkshire Fencible Cavalry', ''Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research'', Vol 97, No 389 (Summer 2019), pp. 109–19.
War Office, ''List of the officers of the several regiments and corps of fencible cavalry and infantry: of the officers of the militia (etc.)'' 22 June 1797.

The Napoleon Series.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ximenes, Morris 1762 births 1837 deaths English Jews Military personnel from London English Anglicans Converts to Anglicanism from Judaism High sheriffs of Berkshire People from Wargrave British Militia officers English knights English businesspeople 18th-century British Jews 18th-century British landowners British Army personnel of the Peninsular War