Rowland Davies LLD (1649 - 1721)

Born 1649 in County Cork, Ireland

Descendants

Died 11 Dec 1721 at about age 72 in Cork, County Cork, Ireland

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Biography

Church of Ireland Clergy

The son of Rowland Davies of Bandon, County Cork, by his wife Mary Smith, maiden name Scudamore, he was born at Gille Abbey, near Cork.

He was educated by Mr. Scroggs of Cork and entered Trinity College Dublin on 27 February 1666, aged about 16. B.A. 1671, M.A. 1672, LL.B and LL.D. 1706. ^[1]

He married in 1674 Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Robert Stannard, and granddaughter of Archbishop Boyle of Armagh, lord chancellor of Ireland, and by her, who died 28 Feb. 1715, he had four sons who reached manhood, besides other sons who died young, and several daughters. One of his sons was preferred to the archdeaconry of Cloyne in 1742.

He was ordained Priest on 9 April 1671, admitted 11 May 1671 to the Prebendary of Kilnaglory and Athnowen. In 1674 he exchanged this for the Prebend of Iniskenny. He was collated 26 October 1673, and again in 1676, to the prebend of Iniscarra, in the diocese of Cloyne. In 1674 he exchanged his first preferment for the prebend of Iniskenny, in the same diocese; and he was instituted 10 February 1679 as Dean of Ross. To these benefices was added the prebend of Liscleary, in the diocese of Cork, to which he was collated 20 October 1679.

He composed a minute and accurate ' Account of the State of the Diocese of Cork in 1682,' which is preserved in manu- script in the diocesan registry. Dreading a repetition of the tragic scenes enacted during the insurrection of 1641, he left Ireland in company with many others in March 1689, and sought employment in the ministry in England. The first scene of his labours was the church of Camberwell, Surrey, of which his fellow-countryman, Dr. Richard Parr, was vicar; and though now depending entirely on his own exertions, and privately encoun- tering many difficulties, he faithfully dis- charged the duties of his profession. Soon after, through the interest of friends, he was appointed by the corporation of Great Yar- mouth to a lectureship in that town, which, however, in a few months he resigned. When King William visited Ireland Davies obtained an appointment as chaplain to one of the regiments proceeding thither, and he landed again in his native country 11 May 1690.

His arrival at Belfast and the active part he took at the battle of the Boyne, the siege of Limerick, and generally through the whole Irish campaign, are particularly recorded in his ' Journal. From 8 March 1688/9 to 29 September 1690, he kept a Journal, which was edited by Richard Caulfield, LL.D., of Cork, and printed for the Camden Society, in 1857. He was at that time the Dean of Ross. The introduction has details about his will.^[2]

He was, with many more, attainted by King James, but after the close of the war he regained his pre- ferments. In 1693 he became vicar-general of Cloyne, an office for which from his know- ledge of canon law he was well qualified. In 1695 the county of Cork publicly acknow- ledged his ' great services against the torys ' (BisHOP DOWNES'S Manuscripts, T.C.D.)

He was admitted as Precentor of Cork on 4 February 1707 and then advanced to the deanery of Cork in 1709.

He was Dean of Cork from 1710 until his death in 1721. Full of years, and in the midst of his surviving relatives, Davies died at Dawstown, co. Cork, 11 Dec. 1721, and was buried in the family vault in Cork Cathedral, where there is an inscription to his memory. A fine portrait of him in his doctor's gown, and some of his manuscripts, are in the possession of his descendants. The pedigree of his family was entered at the visitation of Herefordshire in 1083.

More complete biography on Wikipedia - Rowland Davies.

He died in 1721. ^[3]

Probate ^[4]

Rev Rowland Davies, Dean of Cork

Will dated 2 September 1720, proved 1 May 1722

Daughter - wife of Capt Robert Lundy

Granddaughter - Araminta Lundy

Youngest son - Michael Davies

1st son - Richard Davies

Sources

1. ↑ FindmyPast - Alumni Dublinenses - 1924 Edition Note: Published in 1924, this is the first edition Alumni Dublinenses, a register of provosts, professors, graduates and students of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland's oldest university.
2. ↑ Journal of the Very Rev. Rowland Davies, LL.D., Dean of Ross (and Afterwards Dean of Cork), 1857
3. ↑ http://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/dw/IRE_DIOC_007246541_00194.pdf
4. ↑ FindmyPast - Betham's Genealogical Abstracts Prerogative Wills. (Phillips Mss) D. 1700/1-1745

• http://www.corkpastandpresent.ie/history/coleschurchandparishrecords/colesrecordsindex/index_317_336.pdf

• Wikipedia - Rowland Davies

• Fasti ecclesiae Hibernicae: the succession of the prelates and members of the Cathedral bodies of Ireland by Cotton, Henry, 1789-1879
• Vol 1 - The Province of Munster, Pg 245, 261, 267, 269