Nathaniel Mather (20 March 1631 – 26 July 1697) was an
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
minister.
[The ODNB (2004) spells his name Nathaniel Mather whilst in the older DNB (1894) spells his name Nathenael Mather]
Biography
Nathaniel Mather was born at
Much Woolton, near
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, on 20 March 1631, as the second son of
Richard Mather
Richard Mather (1596 – 22 April 1669) was a New England Puritan minister in colonial Boston. He was father to Increase Mather and grandfather to Cotton Mather, both celebrated Boston theologians.
Biography
Mather was born to Thomas Mather ...
. In 1635 his father took him to New England, where he graduated M.A. at Harvard College in 1647. He finished his studies in England, probably returning with his brother
Samuel
Samuel is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the biblical judges to the United Kingdom of Israel under Saul, and again in the monarchy's transition from Saul to David. He is venera ...
in 1650.
Mather was assistant to George Mortimer (died 1688) at
Harberton
Harberton is a village, civil parish and former manor 3 miles south west of Totnes, in the South Hams District of Devon, England. The parish includes the village of Harbertonford situated on the main A381 road. In the 2001 census the parish ...
, Devonshire (a
Parliamentary sequestered vicarage), and succeeded him there in 1655. In 1656 he was presented by the
Lord Protector
Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...
to the sequestered vicarage of
Barnstaple
Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...
, Devonshire, in which the vicar, Martin Blake (1593–1673), B.D., was reinstated at the
Restoration.
After the Restoration, Mather then went over to Holland, and for some years was pastor of the English Church at Rotterdam. On the death of his brother Samuel, he succeeded him (1671) as minister at New Row, Dublin. In 1688, the year of the
Glorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...
, he left Ireland, and became pastor of the independent church in Paved Alley, Lime Street, London, vacant by the death of
John Collins (1632?–1687).
Mather joined the "Happy Union" of 1691, but was a leader in its disruption owing to the alleged heresies of
Daniel Williams (1643?–1716), D.D. On the withdrawal of
William Bates (1625–1699), D.D. (who sided with Williams), from the Pinners' Hall lectureship, Mather was appointed (1694) in his place.
He died on 26 July 1697, and was buried at
Bunhill Fields
Bunhill Fields is a former burial ground in central London, in the London Borough of Islington, just north of the City of London. What remains is about in extent and the bulk of the site is a public garden maintained by the City of London Cor ...
, where a long Latin inscription was placed upon his tombstone. A still longer Latin epitaph is in Isaac Watts's ''Lyric Poems''.
[ cites: ] He was of tall stature.
Works
He published:
* ''The Righteousness of God through Faith'', etc., Oxford, 1694,
4to
Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...
(his first lectures at Pinners' Hall).
Posthumous were:
* ''The Lawfulness of a Pastor's acting in other Churches'', etc., 1698,
12mo
Bookbinding is the process of building a book, usually in codex format, from an ordered stack of paper sheets with one's hands and tools, or in modern publishing, by a series of automated processes. Firstly, one binds the sheets of papers alon ...
.
* ''Twenty-three select Sermons … at Pinners' Hall'', etc., 1701,
8vo
Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...
.
Family
On 2 August 1655 Nathaniel Mather married Mary Benn, the daughter of the Revd. William Benn of Dorchester, England at St Andrew Undershaft, City of London. They had one child who died in infancy in 1660. Mary died about 1706.
Notes
References
*
*
*
Attribution
* Endnotes:
** Calamy's Account, 1713, p. 238;
** Calamy's Continuation, 1727, i. 257 sq.;
** Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, 1714, ii. 196, 216;
** Wilson's Dissenting Churches of London, 1808, i. 231;
** Armstrong's Appendix to Martineau's Ordination Service, 1829, p. 80.
Further reading
*
*
*
*.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mather, Nathaniel
1631 births
1697 deaths
People from Woolton
Harvard University alumni
17th-century American clergy
Clergy from colonial Massachusetts
Burials at Bunhill Fields
18th-century Irish Presbyterian ministers
Clergy from Liverpool
Mather family