Name Robert Witham | ||
Robert Witham (1667–1738) was an English Roman Catholic college head and biblical scholar.
Contents
Life
He was the seventh son of George Witham, of Cliffe Hall, and brother to George Witham, the bishop; his mother was Grace (Catherine), daughter of Sir Marmaduke Wyvill, 2nd Baronet of Constable Burton Hall. Educated at Douay College with two of his brothers, he studied Universal Philosophy under Edward Hawarden and the treatise De Incarnatione with his brother, George. On 22 September 1694, he was ordained as a priest.
On the death of Bishop James Smith, in 1711, Witham was made vicar-general of the Northern District by Bishop Bonaventure Giffard, the senior bishop, and filled that office till the death of Edward Paston in 1715, when he was nominated to the presidency of Douay College.
At that time the College was 40,000 florins in debt. Witham reached Douay October 28, 1715, having in his company John Savage, 5th Earl Rivers (a priest), who went over with a plan to reside there. At that time there were 92 people in the College, and in 1717 this increased to 115. He governed the College for nearly 23 years, and died there on 18 May 1738.
Works
Witham was the author of: