# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Master, Thomas

​MASTER, THOMAS (1603–1643), divine, son of William Master, rector of Cote, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, was born at Cote in 1603. He was educated at Cirencester grammar school under Henry Topp, 'a noted master,' and 'ripened for the university' at Winchester College, where he obtained a scholarship in 1617. He entered New College, Oxford, in 1622, at the age of nineteen, became perpetual fellow in 1624, and graduated B. A. 1625, M.A. 1629, and B.D. 30 Jan. 1640-1. After 1629 he took holy orders, and in 1637 became rector of Wykeham, Lincolnshire, a sinecure office. Wood states that he was esteemed 'a vast scholar, a general artist and linguist, a noted poet, and a most florid preacher.' His contemporary Michael Woodward, afterwards warden of New College, wrote the words 'summae spei' against his name in the college list of fellows. He assisted Edward Herbert, lord Herbert of Cherbury [q. v.], in collecting materials for his 'Life of Henry VIII,' and in turning this and other of Herbert's works into Latin. Four volumes of Herbert's manuscript history, largely in his handwriting, are preserved in Jesus College library. He died near Louth, of a 'malignant fever,' on 31 Aug. 1643, and was buried in the outer chapel of New College. There is an epitaph upon him among Lord Herbert's 'Occasional Verses.' He was author of: 1. 'Mensa Lubrica Montgom. illustriss. Domino D. Edwardo Baroni de Cherbury,' 1641, a poem in Latin and English on the game of shovel-board. Wood prints the English version in eighty-four lines. It was printed along with Sir Henry Savile's 'Oration to Queen Elizabeth' in 1658 and 1690. 2. 'Μονοστροφικὰ εἰς τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ σταύρωσιν,' composed in 1633, and printed along with 'Mensa Lubrica' in 1658. It was translated into Latin by Henry Jacob of Merton College, and into English verse by Abraham Cowley; Bishop Huntingford, in his 'Apology for his Monostrophics' (p. 30), says: 'Few remains of the ancient Greek lyrics are superior to Master's "Ode on the Crucifixion" either in spirit, imagery, or harmony.' 3. 'Monarchia Britannica sub Elizabetha, Jacobo: in Oratione quam pro more habuit 1642 Thomas Master, Nov. Coll. Soc., in Capella vi. Kal. Aprilis,' Oxford, 1661, 4to, 1681, 8vo. A letter by Dr. John Lamphire [q. v.] accompanies Master's oration. 4. 'Tho. Masteri Μακαρίτου Novi Coll. quondam Socii Iter Boreale ad ipsius patrem Gulielmum Masterum Cotiæ in Agro Glocestrensi Pastorem,' 1675, 4to. This was written in 1637 in prose and verse, and published by the companion of the journey, George Ent [q. v.] The journey was to Louth, near Wykeham in Lincolnshire. 5. 'The Virgin Mary. A sermon preached in Saint Mary's College (vulgo New College), Oxon., March the 25th, 1641,' London, 1710, 8vo. A note to this sermon speaks of Master's memory as 'still pretious.' The sermon occurs again in a collection entitled 'Conjugal Duty set forth,' &c., London, 1732. Wood mentions poems on 'Carolus Redux,' 1623, 'Ad Regem Carolum,' 1625, on Bishop Lake 1626, on Ben Jonson 1637, and on Vaulx as existing in manuscript.
[Information supplied by the Warden of New College; Wood's Athens*? Oxon. iii. 83; Life, pp. 86, 165; Fasti, ii. 35, 335; Brit. Mus. Cat.; Clark's Register of the University of Oxford, iii. 443; Kirby's Winchester Scholars; Foster's Alumni Oxon.]
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