Early years

Mordecai Cary was born in London on 7 August 1687 and baptized eight days later at St Faith-under-St.Pauls' He was the eldest son of John Carrey, citizen and cook, of Ivy Lane, who married Jane Cheese on 15 June 1684 at Temple Church

Temple Church

The Temple Church is a late-12th-century church in London located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built for and by the Knights Templar as their English headquarters. In modern times, two Inns of Court both use the church. It is famous for its effigy tombs and for being a round church...

. His grandfather was William Cary, gunsmith, of Tower Hill

Tower Hill

Tower Hill is an elevated spot northwest of the Tower of London, just outside the limits of the City of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Formerly it was part of the Tower Liberty under the direct administrative control of Tower...

.
He was educated at the bluecoat charity school, Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital

Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...

, entering on 13 July 1695. On the 7th May 1705 he received a scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College, Cambridge

Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...

 and was admitted 19 May 1705 at age 17, from which he received his B.A. 1708/9, Fellow, 1711, M.A. 1712.

In 1709, Dr Richard Bentley

Richard Bentley

Richard Bentley was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge....

, classical scholar and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, applied to the board of Christ's College for Mordecai to travel abroad under the tutelage of older graduate, Mr James Jurin

James Jurin

James Jurin FRS MA FRCP MD was an English scientist and physician, particularly remembered for his early work in capillary action and in the epidemiology of smallpox vaccination...

 (1684-1750), as being "the best way for their improvement and rising in the world". Mordecai was subsequently granted ₤29.16.8. at his setting out in 1709. They travelled to Leyden, one of the most important centres for the study of medicine and natural Philosophy during the eighteenth century to attend the lectures of Hermann Boerhaave. Mordecai and Jurin became lifelong friends.

On 23 May 1714 Mordecai was ordained deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 in London.

Family

Two years later, Mordecai obtained a licence to marry at St James' Church, Duke Street but there does not appear to be an entry for such a marriage at that church. According to his son’s documentation, on 9 Feb 1715/16, London he married Catherine COURTHORPE of Weybridge, Surrey (dau and coheir of Thomas of the parish of St Dunstan in the West, Fleet St.).

Mordecai and Catherine’s children were:
- Anne bpt.27/6/1716 Cold Norton, Essex (Ref: 571176)
- Henry bpt.2/6/1717 St Andrew Undershaft

St Andrew Undershaft

St Andrew Undershaft is a Church of England church located at St Mary Axe, in Aldgate ward of the City of London, near the Lloyd's Building. It is a rare example of a City church that has managed to escape both the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the Second World War bombing during the London...

, London (Ref: 374408/9)
- Catherine bpt.23/7/1719 Morpeth, Northumberland (Ref: 415391) d.bef 1752
- William bpt.23/8/1725 St.Catherine Coleman, London (Ref: 560022/3) d.bef 1752

Career Path

From 1717 to 1732, when he left for Ireland, Mordecai was rector of St Katherine Coleman

St Katherine Coleman

St Katherine Coleman, known earlier as "All Hallows Coleman-church", was an historic church in the City of London, situated in Magpie Alley in Aldgate Ward that narrowly escaped the Great Fire of London, and was extensively rebuilt in 1741...

 in the city of London. Also commonly spelt St Catherine Coleman, the Church was in poor structural condition while Mordecai was there. Rebuilding began in 1739 and it was eventually demolished in 1925/6.

Mordecai was, from 1718-1724 headmaster of Morpeth School, Durham, where he is credited with restoring the school's dwindling prestige after a staff feud prior to his appointment, and increasing the attendance from 26 to 100: he was also perpetual curate of Jarrow

Jarrow

Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...

, co. Durham 1722-24.

He received his Doctor of Divinity at Lambeth

Lambeth

Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

; his patent bears the date March 22, 1731. He was appointed chaplain to Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset

Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex and the former Lady Mary Compton, younger daughter of the 3rd Earl of Northampton...

. According to the Dublin Gazette

Dublin Gazette

The Dublin Gazette was the Gazette, or official newspaper, of the Irish Executive, Britain's government in Ireland based at Dublin Castle, between 1705 and 1922...

, the Duke of Dorset arrived in Dublin on Sept 11, 1731 and was sworn in as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, King George II's chief representative in Ireland. On April 1, 1732, in St Anne's Church, Dublin, Dr Mordecai Cary was consecrated Bishop of Clonfert, co Galway, which position he held to 1838. He was, in fact, consecrated on March 26 "by the Archbishop of Tuam, assisted by the Bishops of Killala and Elphin; and was enthroned at Clonfert on June 5th, and at Kilmacduagh on June 16th".

Clonfert

Clonfert

Clonfert is a small village in east County Galway, Ireland. It is half way between Ballinasloe and Portumna.Clonfert Cathedral is situated in the village, which is the see of the Diocese of Clonfert.-See also:* List of towns and villages in Ireland...

 was the abbey and cathedral founded by St Brendan "the Navigator" in about 557, and became a major seat of learning in Ireland with as many as 3000 students at one time. It was still a prominent college in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

On Sept 27, 1735, the Dublin Gazette read:
"On Wednesday last arrived here the Duke and Duchess of Dorset with the Rt Hon. Walter Cary, His Grace's chief secretary." On this visit by the Duke, "1735-6 Mordecai Cary DD Bishop of Clonfert, was translated to the Sees by patent dated December 20th and was enthroned by proxy at Achonry on March 19th and at Killala next day". See Bishop of Killala and Achonry

Bishop of Killala and Achonry

The Bishop of Killala and Achonry was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Killala and Achonry in the Ecclesiastical Province of Tuam. The diocese comprised part of Counties Mayo and Sligo in Ireland....

, co. Mayo.

St Patrick’s Cathedral, Killala is also significant in Irish church history in that St Patrick himself, in the 5th century, declared Killala

Killala

Killala is a village in County Mayo in Ireland, north of Ballina. The railway line from Dublin to Ballina once extended to Killala. To the west of Killala is a Townsplots West , which contains numerous ancient forts.- History :...

, previously known as "the wood (forest) of Foclut" to be the origin of his call to evangelise the Irish. Killala derives from the Irish “Cill Aille” meaning Church of Ailill.

Mordecai remained at Killala until his death in 1751. The inscription on his tomb in the floor of St Patrick's Cathedral, Killala reads:

To the memory of the

Rt. Revd. Father in God

Mordecai Cary D.D.

Late L^d Bishop of Killala and Achon

who departed this life

Oct^r y^e 2^d A. Dom 1751

in the 65 year

of his age.

Catherine Cary his beloved wife

caused this stone to be laid.

Near him lye four of his grandchildren.

Mordecai's appointment at Killala became a family affair. His son, Henry Cary (1717-1769), became Archdeacon of Killala from 1742, aged 24 or 25. The Dean at this time was Theophilus Brocas (c.1710-1770) whose son, John, succeeded him as Dean, and whose daughter, Henrietta, married the Archdeacon's son, William.

Henry Francis Cary

Henry Francis Cary

Henry Francis Cary was a British author and translator, best known for his blank verse translation of The Divine Comedy of Dante.-Biography:Henry Francis Cary was born in Gibraltar, on 6 December 1772...

, translator of Dante's "Divine Comedy", was the son of
William Cary and Henrietta Brocas, and the great-grandson of Mordecai Cary DD Bishop of Killala and Achonry.

In his will, Mordecai mentions only one surviving son, Henry Cary, to whom went all his estate, with the exception of that reserved for his widow's use, namely the house and furniture in Henry St, Dublin. Mordecai also left the sum of 20 English pounds, to be paid out of his English Concerns, to his brother, William.