Ambrose Ussher was an Irish Protestant clergyman and scholar, a fellow of Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin

Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...

 and rector in the Church of Ireland

Church of Ireland

The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...

, known as a biblical translator.

Life

Born in Dublin about 1582, he was third but second surviving son of Arland Ussher and his wife Margaret. James Ussher

James Ussher

James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...

, archbishop of Armagh

Archbishop of Armagh

The Archbishop of Armagh is the title of the presiding ecclesiastical figure of each of the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland in the region around Armagh in Northern Ireland...

, was his elder brother. He is said to have been for a time at Cambridge. He graduated M.A. and was elected fellow of the recently established Trinity College, Dublin.

He became learned in Hebrew and Arabic. Among his correspondents was Henry Briggs

Henry Briggs

Henry Briggs may refer to:*Henry Briggs *Henry Briggs , *Henry Shaw Briggs , Union general in the American Civil War...

, the mathematician.

Ussher died at Dublin, unmarried, and was buried on 4 March 1629.

Works

Before the completion of the Authorised Version of the Bible, Ussher prepared a translation from the original Hebrew, which he dedicated to James I. It remained in manuscript in three volumes in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. The only work he published was a ‘Brief Catechism very well serving for the Instruction of Youth,’ printed at Dublin without date. He left, however, thirty-four works in manuscript, preserved in Trinity College, Dublin. They included volumes of sermons, commentaries on scripture, and notes on classical authors. Besides the translation of the Bible, they included:

• ‘Disputationes contra Bellarminum,’ 4 vols.
• ‘An Arabian Dictionary and Grammar.’
• ‘Laus Astronomiæ.’
• ‘De Usu Sphæræ cum numero Constellationum.’
• ‘Summaria Religionis Christianæ Methodus.’
• ‘Of the Kingdom of Great Britain, or a Discourse on the Question of Scotland's Union with England.’
• ‘The Principles of Religion explained in English, Greek, Latin, and Hebrew.’
• ‘Confutatio Errorum Ecclesiæ Romanæ.’
• ‘Prolegomena Arabica.’
• ‘Collectanea Arabica et Hebraica.’