Humphrey Owen was Principal of Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 from 1763 to his death.

Owen studied at Jesus College from 1718 to 1722 and was elected as a Fellow in 1725. He was Rector of Tredington

Tredington

Tredington is a small village near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, England.The village has a school and a church, St John the Baptist. The steps, base and shaft of the churchyard cross are 14th century; the cross is modern...

 1744–63. In 1747 he was appointed Bodley's Librarian

Bodley's Librarian

The head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford, is known as Bodley's Librarian: Sir Thomas Bodley, as founder, gave his name to both the institution and the position. Although there had been a university library at Oxford since about 1320, it had declined by the end...

, and continued to hold this post when appointed Principal in 1763. In that same year, he was awarded his D.D.

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 and was appointed to the parish of Rotherfield Peppard

Rotherfield Peppard

Rotherfield Peppard is a village and civil parish in the Chiltern Hills in South Oxfordshire. It is just over west of Henley-on-Thames, about north of Reading, Berkshire and just over west of the village of Rotherfield Greys.-History:Rotherfield derives from the Old English redrefeld meaning...

. He died in 1768 and was buried in the college chapel.