William Taswell

William Taswell (1 May 1652 - June 1731) was a parish priest who as a Westminster schoolboy witnessed the Great Fire of London in 1666.[1][2] He wrote an autobiography giving an account of the fire and other events he witnessed such as the Great Plague of London, which was posthumously published in 1852. He also published two controversial pamphlets criticising Quakerism.[3][4]

Biography

The son of a merchant, Taswell was born at Cowes. He went up to Christ Church, Oxford on 8 July 1670, gaining his B.A. in 1674, M.A. in 1677, B.D. in 1685 and D.D. in 1698. While there he had a beneficial relationship with the Dean, John Fell, who offered him financial support knowing that he received little financial support from his father. In exchange he assisted Fell in manuscript work, for example translating Thomas Lydiat's Chronological Canons into Latin. In 1681, he was appointed college lecturer in Greek.[5]

He served as rector of Swanton Novers, and of Wood Norton, Norfolk from 1692 to 1698 and of St. Mary Bermondsey from 1724 to 1727. In 1695, he married Frances, daughter of Edward Lake. He died on 17 or 22 June 1731 and was buried at Newington.[6]

References
  1. "The Plague and the Fire: Reminiscences of Restoration Times". www.historytoday.com. History Today. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. Adrian Tinniswood (31 January 2011). By Permission Of Heaven: The Story of the Great Fire of London. ISBN 9781446402719.
  3. Thomas Johnson (1722). The Rector Corrected. Being an Answer to William Taswell, (who is Stiled D. D. and Rector of St. Mary Newingtonin Surry.) Wherein his Objections against the Quaker in his Pamphlet, Intituled The Popish Priest Unmask'd, are reduced to four Heads, viz. I. The Qualification and Call of a Gospel-Minister II; His Maintenance; III. Baptism; IIII. The Supper; Which important subjects are briefly set in a true Light ; with some Remarks on several of the Doctors false, ridiculous and defamatory Stories. the Assigns of J. Sowel, at the Bible in George-Yard in Lombard-Street.
  4. John Fallowfield (1723). A Brief Examination of William Taswell's Book, Entituled Antichrist Reveal'd Among the Sect of Quakers. Wherein His Gross Abuses and False Charges Are Considered and Detected. the Assigns of J. Sowel, at the Bible in George-Yard in Lombard-Street.
  5. Nicholas Keene (2002). "John Fell: Education, Erudition and the English Church in Late Seventeenth-Century Oxford". In Mordechai Feingold (ed.). History of Universities: Volume XVIII/1 2003, Volume 18. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199262021.
  6. 'Tabbe-Thomyow', in Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, ed. Joseph Foster (Oxford, 1891), pp. 1453-1478.


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