English academic and clergyman
Samuel Fell
D.D.
(1584 ? 1 February 1649) was an
English
academic and clergyman,
Dean of Christ Church
, Oxford
[1]
[2]
and
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford
[3]
during the
First English Civil War
.
Life
[
edit
]
Samuel Fell was born in the
parish of St Clement Danes
,
London
, and was educated at
Westminster School
. Thence he proceeded as a queen's scholar to
Christ Church, Oxford
, matriculating 20 November 1601, and graduated
B.A.
27 June 1605,
M.A.
30 May 1608,
B.D.
23 November 1615, and
D.D.
23 June 1619. He was elected
proctor
in 1614, and soon after became
rector
of
Freshwater, Isle of Wight
, and
chaplain
to
King James I
. It has been suggested that this position brought
Robert Hooke
to
Oxford
many years later, since at Freshwater Fell knew Hooke's father.
[4]
In May 1619, Fell was made a
canon
of
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
and in 1626
Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity
, which he held, according to custom, with a canonry of
Worcester Cathedral
. These posts he held till 1637. At first his religious views were
Calvinistic
, but he changed his opinions and became an active ally of Archbishop
William Laud
. Laud promoted him, making Fell to the rector of
Stow-on-the-Wold
in 1637,
Dean of Lichfield
in January 1638, and Dean of Christ Church in June 1638.
[2]
Fell continued with improvements in the cathedral and college projected by his predecessor,
Brian Duppa
, and added the staircase leading to the hall.
Active in Oxford University affairs, on 15 August 1637, Samuel Fell wrote to Laud about the excessive number of alehouses in Oxford, but on more than one occasion he was rebuked from Laud for setting his authority as head of a college in opposition to the proctors and other public officials of the university. On the outbreak of the
Civil War
he became a conspicuous royalist, and, after serving the office of vice-chancellor in 1645 and 1646, was reappointed in 1647.
[3]
Soon after his reappointment the
parliamentary visitors
came to Oxford. In September, Fell was summoned before them; he declined to attend, was imprisoned, and on his release in November was deprived of all his offices in the university. He retired to the rectory of
Sunningwell
, near
Abingdon
, which he had held since 21 September 1625, and died there on 1 February 1649. He was buried in his church.
Family
[
edit
]
Samuel Fell married Margaret, daughter of
Thomas Wylde
,
[5]
esq., of
The Commandery
Worcester
, by whom he was the father of
John Fell
, Dean of Christ Church and
Bishop of Oxford
, and several daughters including Mary who married
Thomas Willis
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Salter, H. E.; Lobel, Mary D., eds. (1954). "Christ Church".
A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 3: The University of Oxford
.
Victoria County History
. pp. 228?238
. Retrieved
28 July
2011
.
- ^
a
b
Horn, Joyce M., ed. (1996). "Deans of Christ Church, Oxford".
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541?1857: volume 8: Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford and Peterborough dioceses
.
Institute of Historical Research
. pp. 80?83
. Retrieved
28 July
2011
.
- ^
a
b
"Previous Vice-Chancellors"
.
University of Oxford
, UK
. Retrieved
18 July
2011
.
- ^
Lisa Jardine
,
The Curious Life of Robert Hooke
(2003), p. 66.
- ^
Vivienne Larminie, ‘Fell, John (1625?1686)’,
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008
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