John Ley
John Ley (4 February 1583 – 16 May 1662) was an English clergyman and member of the Westminster Assembly. Life. He was born in Warwick and received his early education at the free school in that town. On 12 February 1602 he entered Christ Church, Oxford, and graduated B.A. (23 October 1605) and M.A. (30 May 1606). Taking holy orders he was presented to the vicarage of Great Budworth, Cheshire, in 1616. He subsequently became sub-dean of Chester and Friday lecturer in St. Peter's Church in the same city, and in 1627 was made a prebendary of  Chester Cathedral. At the outbreak of the First English Civil War between Charles I and the parliament he sided with the latter, and came to occupy an important place in their ecclesiastical arrangements, and was an energetic pamphleteer. In 1643 he took the solemn league and covenant, was appointed a member of the Westminster Assembly of divines, and regularly attended its sessions. He was made examiner in Latin to the Assembly, and chairman of two of its important committees. In 1645 he was elected president of Sion College, and in the same year the sequestered rectories of St. Mary-at -Hill, London, and of Charlwood, Surrey, were made over to him. He was instituted rector of Ashfield and of Astbury in Cheshire in 1646. He drew up the 'Cheshire Attestation' in 1648, and his name is the first of the fifty-nine appended to it. When Edward Hyde was ejected from the rectory of Brightwell, Berkshire, Ley succeeded him. He refused to pay Hyde any part of his income. In 1653 he was appointed one of the 'triers for the approbation of ministers.' He subsequently obtained from Sir Simon Archer of Umberslade Hall the rectory of Solihull, Warwickshire. After some  years there his health gave way, and resigning his benefices he went to live at Sutton Coldfield, where he died 16 May 1662. He was buried in the church of Sutton Coldfield. Works. The following are his main works: He was an important contributor to the Westminster Annotations ("Annotations upon all the Books of the Old and New Testament", 1645), with Meric Casaubon, John Downame, Daniel Featley, Thomas Gataker, William Gouge, Adam Pemberton, John Reading, Edward Reynolds, and Francis Taylor.