Derham William

Derham William, a philosopher and divine, was born at Stoughton, near Worcester, in 1657; was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; in 1685, obtained the livings of Wargrave and Upminster; and, upon the accession of George I, was made king's chaplain, and a canon of Windsor in 1716. In 1730 he received the degree of D.D. He died in 1735. His three principal works are, Physico- Theology, the Boyle lectures for 1711-12 (best ed. Lond. 1798, 2 vols. 8vo); Astro-Theology (London, 1719, 8vo); and Christo-Theology, a demonstration of the Divine authority of the Christian religion (Lond. 1730, 8vo). Of these, the first demonstrates "the being and attributes of God from his works of creation;" the second "from a survey of the heavens." — Kippis, Biographia Britannica, v. 116.