Robert Mapletoft
Encyclopedia
Robert Mapletoft was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 churchman and academic, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college has over seven hundred students and fellows, and is the third oldest college of the university. Physically, it is one of the university's larger colleges, with buildings from almost every century since its...

 and Dean of Ely
Dean of Ely
The position of Dean of Ely Cathedral, in East Anglia, England, was created at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The first Dean of Ely had been the last Benedictine prior of Ely.-List of Deans:*1541-1557 Robert Steward or Welles...

.

Life

He was son of Hugh Mapletoft, rector of North Thoresby
North Thoresby
North Thoresby is a village in Lincolnshire situated between Louth and Grimsby, approximately from each with a population of 2,062 with 50.5% of the population being over 60....

, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, was born there on 25 January 1609, and educated at the grammar school at Louth
Louth, Lincolnshire
Louth is a market town and civil parish within the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.-Geography:Known as the "capital of the Lincolnshire Wolds", it is situated where the ancient trackway Barton Street crosses the River Lud, and has a total resident population of 15,930.The Greenwich...

. He was admitted a sizar
Sizar
At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is a student who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined job....

 of Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College, Cambridge
Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

, on 25 May 1625, and graduated B. A. in 1628, M.A. 1632, B.D. 1639, D.D. 1660. He was elected fellow of Pembroke College on 8 January 1631, and became chaplain to Bishop Matthew Wren
Matthew Wren
"Matthew Wren" is also a British actor who appeared in BBC children's show Trapped!.Matthew Wren was an influential English clergyman and scholar.-Life:...

, who till his death was his friend and patron. On Wren's recommendation he was presented to the rectory of Bartlow
Bartlow
Bartlow is a small village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about south-east of Cambridge and west of Haverhill in Suffolk. The River Granta runs through the village.-History:...

, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

, by Charles I in 1639, the king exercising the patronage by reason of the outlawry of the patron, Henry Huddleston.

At the parliamentary visitation of the university in 1644 he was ejected as a malignant and a loyalist. After his ejection, he lived quietly, at one time in the house of Sir Robert Shirley, 4th Baronet in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, where he made the acquaintance of Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...

. During the protectorate he officiated for some time to a private congregation in Lincoln
Lincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....

, according to the ritual of the church of England. At the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 he received the degree of D.D. by royal mandate, 28 January 1660, and on 23 August he was presented by the crown to the subdeanery of Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral
Lincoln Cathedral is a historic Anglican cathedral in Lincoln in England and seat of the Bishop of Lincoln in the Church of England. It was reputedly the tallest building in the world for 249 years . The central spire collapsed in 1549 and was not rebuilt...

, and on 8 December received the mastership of the Spital Hospital at Spital-in-the-Street
Spital-in-the-Street
Spital-in-the-Street is a small hamlet in Lincolnshire, England. It is on the Roman Ermine Street , which forms the modern A15 road, near its junction with the A631 road, known as Caenby Corner, north of Lincoln...

. While subdean he was involved in a dispute with the precentor of the cathedral, John Featley
John Featley
John Featley, also known as John Fairclough , was a chorister and divine. He was a chaplain to Charles I.His uncle was the theologian Daniel Featley.-References:...

, with regard to some capitular appointments, and was attacked by him in a tract entitled Speculum Mapletoftianum. As master of the Spital Hospital he exerted himself for the revival of the charity, in conjunction with Dean Michael Honywood. A bill in chancery was exhibited in 1662 against Sir John Wray for the restoration of the estates, and Mapletoft at his own expense rebuilt the demolished chapel and increased its revenues.

He also received from the crown the living of Clayworth
Clayworth
Clayworth is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 319. It is located 6 miles north-east of Retford....

, Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...

, which in 1672 he exchanged for the college living of Soham
Soham
Soham is a small town in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It lies just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket . Its population is 9,102 , and it is within the district of East Cambridgeshire.-Archaeology:...

, resigning his fellowship. He was nominated master of Pembroke, but he waived in favour of Mark Frank
Mark Frank (theologian)
Mark Frank or Franck was an English churchman and academic, Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge.-Life:He was baptised at Little Brickhill, Buckinghamshire, and was admitted pensioner of Pembroke College, Cambridge, 4 July 1627. He was elected to a scholarship in 1630, and to a fellowship 8...

, whom he succeeded as master in 1664. He held the office, together with the benefice of Soham, till his death. He served as vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge in 1671. He was made dean of Ely on 7 August 1667, holding the subdeanery of Lincoln with the deanery till 1671.

When in 1668 Anne Hyde, Duchess of York, began to waver in her allegiance to the church of England, Mapletoft was recommended as her chaplain by Sheldon; but he was reluctant to undertake the office. He died on 20 August 1677 in the master's lodge at Pembroke, and, by his desire, was buried in the chapel, near the grave of his patron, Matthew Wren.

Family

He was cousin to Nicholas Ferrar
Nicholas Ferrar
Nicholas Ferrar was an English scholar, courtier, businessman and man of religion. Ordained deacon in the Church of England, he retreated with his extended family to the manor of Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, where he lived the rest of his life.-Early life:Nicholas Ferrar was born in London,...

, and was one of his intimates, and a frequent visitor at Little Gidding
Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire
Little Gidding is a parish and small village in Huntingdonshire , England, near Sawtry and north west of Huntingdon.-History:The parish of Little Gidding is small, consisting of only 724 acres...

; on Ferrar's death he preached the funeral sermon and officiated. His brother, Joshua Mapletoft, married Susanna Collett, Ferrar's niece, and was father of the physician John Mapletoft
John Mapletoft
-Life:His father was Joshua Mapletoft, vicar of Margaretting and rector of Wickford, Essex, and his mother Susanna, daughter of John Collet by Susanna, sister of Nicholas Ferrar of Little Gidding. She afterwards married James Chedley, and, dying on 31 October 1657, was buried at Little Gidding....

. Mapletoft himself was unmarried.
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