William Hallifax was an English clergyman notable for being an early western explorer of Palmyra, a translation of Euclid, serving as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons and as a benefactor of Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford.
He was subsequently admitted as a scholar to Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford in April 1674, graduating with a BA in 1675 with an MA in 1678.
[4] There were no children of this marriage and Anne died on 4 May 1709, being buried with a commemorative stone at St Michael's church, Upton Warren, Worcestershire.[5]: p.
[1][9] In 1677, Claude François Milliet Dechales published Les elemens d'Euclide expliquez d'une maniere nouvelle & tres-facile, a French translation of Books 1-6 and 11-12 of Euclid's Elements.
"[13]: p 221 In his preface, Hallifax said of his translation that "[I] voluntary [sic] offer it to the publick, in an Age, whose Genius seems more addicted to Mathematicks, than any that has preceded it."
[17] Aleppo was well situated for interaction with a number of communities of scholarship (Ottomans, Greeks, Armenians, Jacobites, Copts, and various groups of Jews and Arabs) with a history of manuscript production.[18]: p.
228 A recent predecessor as chaplain to Aleppo, Robert Huntington, had collected manuscripts extensively with many finding their way to the Bodleian Library or Trinity College Dublin, where Narcissus Marsh was Provost.
[20] The merchants of the Levant Company "being generally Men of more than ordinary Birth and Education, have not been wanting (as the intervals of leisure from the gainful Traffick would permit) to make Voyages of Curiosity, to visit the celebrate Remains of Antiquity in those Parts, whereby the once flourishing State of the World, under the Roman Empire is abundantly envinced."[21]: p.
[23][19] The architectural descriptions have the virtue of an attempt at a systematic account of the central ruins and the drawback that Hallifax tried to interpret the function of the buildings based in part on reasoning drawn from the Old Testament.
[27] Hallifax had the disadvantage that he did not have the resources of a well-stocked library to aid him in interpreting what he read on stonework in poor condition and that his transcriptions had themselves been copied and circulated before publication, not necessarily with complete accuracy.
[13]: p 221 As was customary, Parliament had petitioned the monarch for a preferment for the Speaker's Chaplain at the end of their tenure and Barton was appointed Prebendary of Westminster Abbey.
[29] Hearne noted: "tho' the House petition'd for him, yet 'twas his Fortune to get nothing whereas one Galloway, originally of Hart-Hall, who was a most notorious stupid Blockhead, without one Grain of Learning, for being Foley's Chaplain, when Speaker, got to be Prebendary of Worcester; wch to ye scandal of all Worthy men he still enjoys."[13]: p.
[30] William Hallifax was not Thomas Foley's first choice as rector for the wealthy parish of Oldswinford; in June 1699 it had been offered to and refused by George Nelson, at that time holding the livings of Oddingley and Pedmore.[31]: p.
212 The replacement in red brick is of two storeys with five flat-headed windows and a moulded wood doorcase with Ionic columns and open pediment, although somewhat extended in later years.
The lower house's role had been restricted thereby denying a voice to the low church (or puritan) interest which advocated a less ritualistic devotion.
[35] Apart from the intellectual arguments, the pamphlet all but identified Hallifax as the author of the original letter: "Since Dr. H------ x is notoriously known to produce it, and has Assurance enough to acknowledge his Delivery of it to the Chancellor.
However, he's still D. D. and a Rector of a large Parish..." Hallifax preached a sermon on 30 January 1701 (the Martyrdom of Charles I) which was published with a response to the anonymous pamphlet.
This was made into a serious matter as Hallifax was forced to obtain a statement from the Levant Company to prove that he had not been dismissed from the position of chaplain in Aleppo and, by inference, he had not favoured the abolition of the observance of the Martyrdom of Charles I.[15]: p.
William Hallifax was appointed a governor of King Edward VI's School in 1700 in succession to a local resident and Justice of the Peace, Francis Clare.
The financial performance of the Company was uneven but, in 1719, its shares became very profitable and, by June 1719, Mary Hallifax was negotiating on William's behalf with her brother, Henry Davenport.
[20] It is hard to believe that William Hallifax was not aware that the South Sea Company traded slaves but this did not seem to conflict with his understanding of the gospel.
[20] His gifts to his former Oxford college of Corpus Christi were extensive and drew on items he had acquired while chaplain at Aleppo or in Italy on his way home.