Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 02.djvu/293

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Aylmer
281
Aylmer

in his College, chiefly founded on the Prosecution of the University; whereby he was oblig'd to quit the one, and was expell'd the other,' 1716. Probably written by Ayliffe.) 3. 'Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani; or a Commentary by way of Supplement to the Canons and Constitutions of the Church of England,' &c., 1726; 2nd edition, 1734 The titles are alphabetically arranged. There is an historical introduction, and appended to the work is a catalogue of the monastic and religious houses dissolved by Henry VIII, with their yearly value. 4. 'The Law of Pledges, or Pawns, as it was in use among the Romans, and as it is now practiced in most foreign Nations,' 1732. This was a publication by anticipation of Book IV. Tit. 18 of the work on the civil law, and was addressed to the House of Commons, then making inquiries into what Ayliffe called 'the dark recesses and malepractices of pawnbrokers and their accomplices in iniquity.' 5. 'A New Pandect of Roman Civil Law, as anciently established in that Empire, and now received and practiced in most European Nations,' &c., vol. i., 1734. The second volume never appeared. The entry of '2 vols.' in the 'Biblioth. Jurid.' of Lipenius is a mistake.

[The Case of Dr. Ayliffe at Oxford; references to himself in his other works; Notice by Burton in S. D. U. K. Biog. Dict.; Gent. Mag. lxxiv. 646, 855, lxxxix. 956; Eawlinson's MSS. fol. 16, 105.]

G. P. M.


AYLMER, CHARLES, D.D. (1786–1847), an Irish Jesuit, born at Painstown, county Kildare, 29 Aug. 1786. He entered the Society of Jesus at Stonyhurst College, in Lancashire, and was created D.D. in 1814 while at Palermo, where he was stationed; for several years. For the use of the British catholics in that city he, in conjunction with two of his brethren, Paul Ferley and Bartholomew Esmonde, compiled 'A short Explanation of the Principal Articles of the Catholic Faith' (Palermo, at the royal printing-office), 1812, 12mo; and 'The Devout Christian's Daily Companion, being a Selection of pious Exercises for the use of Catholics' (Palermo, 1812, 12mo). He became rector of Clongowes College, in Ireland, in 1817, was professed of the four vows 16 Jan. 1820, and lived in Dublin from about the year 1821 till his death on 4 July 1847. He was superior of the Dublin Residence in 1816, 1822, and 1829 (when the first stone of the church in Gardiner Street was laid), and again in 1841. Father Aylmer promoted in Dublin a society for the printing of catholic books. His brother was an officer of Austrian cuirassiers, and was considered one of the best swordsmen in that service.

[Caballero, Bibliothecæ Scriptorum Soc. Jesu Supplementa. Supplementum alterum (Rome, 1816), 3; Hogan's Chronological Cat. of the Irish Province S. J. 88; Narbone's Bibliografia Sicola, iii. 342; De Backer's Bibliothique des Ecrivains de la Société de Jésus (1869), 348.]

T. C.


AYLMER, JOHN (1521–1594), bishop of London, whose name, contracted from the Saxon Æthelmaer, appears also as Ælmer or Elmer, was born of an ancient family long resident at their ancestral seat of Aylmer Hall, in the parish of Tivetshall St. Mary, Norfolk. When a schoolboy he attracted the notice of Henry Grey, marquis of Dorset, and afterwards duke of Suffolk, by whose liberality he was sent to be educated at Cambridge. He is said to have been a fellow of Queens' College, at that time a noted resort of the more advanced reformers, but this is a matter of some uncertainty. He proceeded B.A. in 1541, and, shortly after taking orders, was installed by his patron as his private chaplain and also as tutor to his children at Bradgate in Leicestershire. In this latter capacity he became the instructor of Lady Jane Grey, whose testimony to his merits as one who taught 'gently,' 'pleasantly,' and 'with such fair allurements to learning,' is preserved in the well-known story told by Ascham (Scholemaster, ed. Mayor, pp. 33-34). He appears to have turned his advantages at Cambridge to good account, for Thomas Becon, in his 'Jewel of Joy' (Works, ed. Ayre, ii. 424), speaks of him as being at this time 'excellently well learned' in both Latin and Greek.

On 15 June, 1553, Aylmer was installed archdeacon of Stow, in the diocese of Lincoln, but having ventured in convocation to oppose the doctrine of transubstantiation, he was deprived of all his preferments, and soon afterwards fled for safety to the Continent. He resided first at Strassburg, and afterwards at Zürich, both chief centres of reunion for the Marian exiles, until the accession of Elizabeth. During these years he occupied himself with the instruction of sundry young English gentlemen who had also temporarily quitted their country, and also in assisting John Fox, the martyrologist, in a Latin translation of the 'Acts and Monuments.' The fact that Aylmer was solicited by Fox to render him this assistance is evidence of his reputation as an accurate Latin scholar, while Aylmer's testimony (that of no lenient critic) to the correctness and merits of Fox's great work is still