Henry William Majendie

Majendie came from a French ecclesiastical family which had emigrated to England in the previous generation. His father John Majendie was preceptor to Queen Charlotte, canon of Windsor in 1774 and the Queen’s domestic chaplain as well as tutor to her two sons. The son was educated at Charterhouse and obtained a scholarship to Christ’s College, Cambridge graduating with a BA in 1776 as well as fellowship, MA in 1785, DD in 1791. Henry Majendie was ordained in Worcestershire in 1783 where he was vicar from 1783 to 1785 and preceptor to Prince William from 1780. He was made canon of Windsor in 1785, vicar of Nether Stowey from 1790 to 1793 and afterwards in 1793 vicar of Hungerford for three years. He resigned from these posts when he was appointed to the residential prebend at St Pauls and the vicarage of New Windsor. In 1800, he became bishop of Chester, and in 1809 bishop of Bangor which he maintained until his death. Majendie founded a Sunday school and took interest in educating the poor primarily as a method for social control. He appointed relatives in valuable posts, including his sons, attracting charges of nepotism. He and his wife Anne had thirteen children. Majendie was against the catholic emancipation.