He became curate at
Merton on Otmoor, Oxfordshire, (1744) then chaplain at the English Factory at
St Petersburg (1746–62). During that time he was elected to the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, became fluent in Russian and was chaplain to Sir
Charles Hanbury (1708–59), British Ambassador to St Petersburg. He translated a book:
An Account of that part of America which is nearest to Kamchatka, extracted from the Description by Professor Krasheninncoff, printed at Petersburg in 1759, and translated by the Rev. D. Dumaresq. In his capacity as chaplain to the ambassador he employed a secretary,
Stanislaus Poniatowski, who later became king of Poland. Upon his return to England he took the rectory of
Yeovilton (1762-1805) with neighbouring
Limington (1790-1802). From there he was called upon to return to Russia and Poland to advise
Catherine the Great (1762–96) of Russia and
Stanislaus II (1764–95) King of Poland on educational matters. He was a Fellow of the
Royal Society. In 1800, he donated his library of books to his native island, a founding benefaction of the
Jersey Library. He died on 28 October 1805 aged 94 at
Bath, Somerset. ==See also==