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OWEN, MORGAN (1585? - 1645), bishop

Name: Morgan Owen
Date of birth: 1585?
Date of death: 1645
Parent: Owen Rees
Gender: Male
Occupation: bishop
Area of activity: Religion
Author: Thomas Iorwerth Ellis

Born at Myddfai c. 1585, third son of the Rev. Owen Rees, of Y Lasallt, Myddfai, Carmarthenshire - he is described as a descendant of the ' physicians of Myddfai.' He was educated at the grammar school at Carmarthen and Jesus College, Oxford, subsequently becoming chaplain of New College and graduating B.A. in 1613. He became chaplain to bishop William Laud of S. Davids and held a number of ecclesiastical appointments in that diocese; in 1636 he was made D.D. of the University of Oxford. He enclosed the south yard of S. Mary's church, Oxford, and built a porch there in 1637. He was elected bishop of Llandaff in March 1639/40, holding the rectories of Bedwas and Rudry 'in commendam.' In 1641 he was impeached for promulgating the canons of 1640 and imprisoned in the Tower, and again in the following year. Subsequently he returned to Wales and, after losing his palace at Mathern and his revenues, retired to Y Lasallt, where he died on 5 March 1645. He was buried on the north side of the altar in Myddfai church, and there is a memorial slab to him there.

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Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/

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