Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Mannock, John

by Thompson Cooper

MANNOCK, JOHN (1677–1764), Benedictine monk, born at Giffords Hall, Suffolk, in 1677, was second son of Sir William Mannock, the third baronet, of Giffords Hall, by his wife Ursula, daughter of Henry Neville, esq., of Holt, Leicestershire. On 24 Oct. 1693 he was admitted a student of the English College at Rome. He afterwards became a monk of the Benedictine order, making his profession at St. Gregory's Convent, Douay, 7 March 1700, taking in religion the name of Father Anselm. After being ordained at Liège he was sent to England on the mission, and from 1709 till 1759 he acted as chaplain to the Canning family at Foxcote, Warwickshire. He held several offices in his order, being appointed procurator of the southern province in 1729, definitor of the province in 1755, and definitor of the regimen and titular cathedral prior of Worcester in 1757. He was stationed at Kelvedon Hall, Essex, from 1759 until his death, which took place there on 30 Nov. 1764.

His works are:

1. 'The Creed Expounded, or the Light of Christian Doctrine set up on the Candlestick of Orthodox Interpretation. . . . To which is premised a short Essay on Faith, byway of introduction,' London, 1735.
2. 'The Poor Man's Catechism, or the Christian Doctrine explained. With short Admonitions,' London, 1762.
3. 'The Poor Man's Controversy' [London?], 1769, pp. 136. A posthumous work, the manuscript of which is at St. Gregory's College, Downside, near Bath, where several other works by Mannock are also preserved in manuscript, including
4. 'The Poor Man's Companion.'
5. 'A Summary or Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine.'
6. 'Annus Sacer Britannicus, or short Lives of the English Saints,' 3 vols.
7. 'Thesaurus Praedicatorum.'
8. 'A Commentary on the Bible,' 9 vols.
9. 'An Historical Catechism of the Old Testament.'
10. 'An Historical Catechism on the Life and Death of Christ.'

[Downside Review, iv. 156, vi. 137; Foley's Records, v.548, 549, vi. 443; Oliver's Catholic Religion in Cornwall, p.519; Snow's Necrology, p.114; Weldon's Chronicle, App. p. 12.]

T. C.