Robert Ussher (4 April 1592 – 18 July 1642) was an Irish Protestant bishop who served as the 6th Provost of Trinity College Dublin 1629 to 1634. He was also Bishop of Kildare for some time.

Life

The youngest son of Henry Ussher,

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

and his first wife Margaret Eliot, daughter of Thomas Elliott of Balreask, he was educated at Trinity College Dublin, being made a fellow in 1611, and graduating B.A. 1612, M.A. 1614, vice provost 1615; B.D. 1621. He was

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

of St. Audoen's Church, Dublin (1617); rector of Ardstra (1617); prebendary of Dromaragh (1624); and rector of

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh and roughly southwest of Belfast. The town is linked to Belfast by both the M1 motorway (Northern Ireland), M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin rail ...

(1629). On the death in 1627 of Sir William Temple, there was a disputed election to the Provostship. The senior Fellows elected Joseph Mead, who declined; the junior Fellows elected Ussher (14 April 1627), and he was sworn in the same day. He was set aside by royal letter in favor of

William Bedell The Rt. Rev. William Bedell, D.D. (; 22 September 15717 February 1642), was an English Anglican bishop who served as the 5th Provost of Trinity College Dublin from 1627 to 1629. He also served as Lord Bishop of Kilmore and as a member of t ...

, who was sworn in on 16 August. On Bedell's promotion as

Bishop of Kilmore The Bishop of Kilmore is an episcopal title which takes its name after the parish of Kilmore, County Cavan in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bisho ...

, Ussher was again elected (3 October 1629) and sworn in on 13 January 1630. He owed his appointment to a temperate letter in his favour by his cousin,

James Ussher James Ussher (or Usher; 4 January 1581 – 21 March 1656) was the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625 and 1656. He was a prolific Irish scholar and church leader, who today is most famous for his ...

, to whom an appeal had been made. He was an able preacher, promoted the study of the Irish language, and defended the college's charter rights; but was considered too dovish by the formidable

Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (13 April 1593 (New Style, N.S.)12 May 1641), was an English people, English statesman and a major figure in the period leading up to the English Civil War. He served in Parliament of England, Parliament ...

. On 11 August 1634, he resigned the Provostship on being appointed Archdeacon of Meath. On 25 February 1635, he was consecrated Bishop of Kildare. He died at Panta Birsley, near Ellesmere,

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 ...

, on 7 September 1642, and was buried at Dudleston (Doddleston) Chapel, near

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

. He married Jane, eldest daughter of Francis Kynaston, of Panta Birsley, and left children. Many thought his early death at fifty to have been hastened by the troubles of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ussher, Robert 1592 births 1642 deaths Anglican bishops of Kildare Archdeacons of Meath Christian clergy from County Kildare Provosts of Trinity College Dublin 17th-century Irish people