Samuel Squire (1714 – 7 May 1766) was a Bishop of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

and a historian.

Early life

Squire was the son of a

druggist A pharmacist, also known as a chemist in Commonwealth English, is a healthcare professional who is knowledgeable about preparation, mechanism of action, clinical usage and legislation of medications in order to dispense them safely to the pu ...

Warminster Warminster () is a historic market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of 18,173 in 2021. The name ''Warminster'' occurs first i ...

, Wiltshire, and was first educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School. He

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St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1730 and graduated BA in 1734, winning the Craven scholarship the same year. He was elected a fellow of St John's in 1735, proceeded MA in 1737, and was made a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

in 1749.Reed Browning,
Squire, Samuel (bap. 1714, d. 1766)
, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2009.

Ecclesiastical career

Squire began his church career in 1739 when he was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

of the

; he was ordained priest in 1741, in which year he was appointed

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

Minting Minting is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The village is situated south from the A158 road The A158 road is a major route that heads from Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Lincoln in the west to Ske ...

, Lincolnshire. In 1743 was made a canon of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...

, and

Archdeacon of Bath The Archdeacon of Bath is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells. The post, having oversight over the archdeaconry of Bath, has existed since the twelfth century. The archdeaconry includes List of eccles ...

, holding both preferments until 1761. Adding to his growing number of parish livings, he was appointed rector of Toppesfield, Essex (1749–50) and subsequently of

St Anne's Church, Soho St Anne's Church serves in the Church of England the Soho section of London. It was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the parish church of the new civil and ecclesiastical parish of St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminst ...

(1750–66), and vicar of St Alphege's, Greenwich (1751–66), where

William Paley William Paley (July 174325 May 1805) was an English Anglican clergyman, Christian apologetics, Christian apologist, philosopher, and Utilitarianism, utilitarian. He is best known for his natural theology exposition of the teleological argument ...

, who later achieved fame as a theologian and philosopher, served as his

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...

. He was briefly

Dean of Bristol The Dean of Bristol is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Bristol, England. The Dean is Mandy Ford, since her installation on 3 October 2020. List of deans Early modern *1542–1551 William Sn ...

(1760) and was finally appointed

Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in ...

in 1761. His attainment of offices was due to his open attachment to the court Whigs; he was chaplain to the Duke of Newcastle, whose use of patronage for the court Whig interest was renowned.

Published works

In the 1740s Squire published five essays on political subjects in which he voiced his support for the Whig party. His ''Letter to a Young Gentleman of Distinction'' (1740) argued for the benefits of a

standing army A standing army is a permanent, often professional, army. It is composed of full-time soldiers who may be either career soldiers or conscripts. It differs from army reserves, who are enrolled for the long term, but activated only during wars ...

against a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

to protect Britain in its wars against France and Spain. Squire advocated Britain's continental commitment of troops in ''The Important Question Discussed'' (1746). He came to the aid of

Henry Pelham Henry Pelham (25 September 1694 – 6 March 1754) was a British Whig statesman who served as Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1743 until his death in 1754. He was the younger brother of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, who serv ...

's administration by trumpeting its Whig principles in ''A Letter to a Tory Friend'' (1746). Squire also disputed the arguments of the Jacobite historian

Thomas Carte Thomas or John Carte (1686–1754) was an English historian with Jacobite sympathies, who served as a Church of England clergyman. Life Carte was born in 1686 near Clifton upon Dunsmore (itself near Rugby), the eldest son of the antiquari ...

by publishing two pamphlets in 1748: ''Remarks upon Mr. Carte's Specimen'' and ''A Letter to John Trot-Plaid''. In the ''Remarks'', Squire used

natural law Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

theory to contend against Carte's support of the

House of Stuart The House of Stuart, originally spelled Stewart, also known as the Stuart dynasty, was a dynasty, royal house of Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland, Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland and later Kingdom of Great Britain, Great ...

, and in ''A Letter'' he satirised Carte by mocking his interpretation of the past in terms of the present. Squire also published two works on English history, ''An Enquiry into the Foundation of the English Constitution'' (1745) and ''Historical Essay upon the Balance of Civil Power in England'' (1748). In ''An Enquiry'', Squire wrote on the German and Anglo-Saxon love of liberty and constitutionalism. In his ''Historical Essay'', Squire wrote that liberty depended upon an equipoise among competing institutions and groups in society, suggesting that whenever such an equipoise collapses an arbitrary government takes its place. 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 ...

of 1688 had ended the struggle to secure a balance and thus ensure liberty. In May 1746 Squire was elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...

as: "A Gentleman well known to the Learned World by Several valuable Treatises, perticularly 'Two Essays on the Antient Greek Chronology' and 'On the Origin of the Greek Language'; A new Edition of Plutarch's Discourse on 'Isis & Osiris', with an English Translation & Commentary; and an 'Historical Essay on the Anglo-Saxon Government both in Germany & England'". He died in

Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squire, Samuel 1714 births 1766 deaths 18th-century Welsh Anglican bishops Archdeacons of Bath Bishops of St Davids Deans of Bristol 18th-century English historians Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Lord Weymouth's Grammar School Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People from Warminster