Sir Morris Ximenes (1762–1837), also known as Moses Ximenes, was a captain in the British Army and Berkshire landowner who had converted to Anglicanism from Judaism.
Morris was born in London about 1762. He was a member of the London Exchange, where he made a large fortune. In 1802, he was elected a warden of the Bevis Marks Synagogue, but declined to accept; and on being fined he resigned from the community and became converted to Christianity.
However, "he embraced his new faith while expressing the most friendly feelings towards the professors of the old faith."[1]
He afterwards followed a military career and served in the Peninsular War as Captain Ximenes. He was knighted in 1806 and appointed high sheriff of both the counties of Kent and of Berkshire (1806). His chief residence was Bear Place at Hare Hatch, near Wargrave, in the latter county. He died in London in 1837.
It was suggested that he was perhaps descended from Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros,[2] (1436–1517), twice regent of Spain and sometime Grand Inquisitor. (Ximenes and Jiménez: homonyms)
His younger brother, Sir David Ximenes, had no connection with the Jewish community.
Bibliography
- Picciotto, Sketches of Anglo-Jewish History, pp. 303–304.
References
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
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| Preceded by Nicholas Matthews | High Sheriff of Berkshire 1805 | Succeeded by John Englebert Liebenrood |