John Terry ★

1550s–1580s

Born in 1555 in Long Sutton, Hampshire, England. Educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford (BA 1578, MA 1582), and became a fellow of New College in 1576.

1590s–1620s

Married around 1590 near Oxford, and that year became rector of Stockton, Wiltshire, for the rest of his life. A committed Calvinist, he wrote The Triall of Truth (1600–1625) against Catholic doctrine. Died on 10 May 1625.

An Oxford Rector's Pen

John Terry was born in 1555 in Long Sutton, Hampshire, England, and educated at Winchester College before being admitted to New College, Oxford, in 1574, earning his Bachelor of Arts in 1578 and Master of Arts in 1582. He became a full fellow of New College in 1576 and, in 1590, resigned his fellowship when the Bishop of Winchester appointed him rector of Stockton, Wiltshire, a post he held for the rest of his life. A committed Calvinist and, in his words, “a zealous enemy of the Roman Catholics,” John published The Triall of Truth in 1600, attacking Catholic doctrines including transubstantiation and papal supremacy, with a second part in 1602 and a third, Theologicall Logicke, in 1625, as well as The Reasonablenesse of Wise and Holy Truth in 1617; a further defense of Protestantism appeared in print after his death. John died on May 10, 1625, leaving money in his will to his five sons and to the poor of both Stockton and his native Long Sutton.