Son of Nicholas Trapp, of
Kempsey, Worcestershire, Trapp studied at the
Free School in
Worcester and then at
Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1622; M.A., 1624). He became usher of the free school of
Stratford-upon-Avon in 1622 and its headmaster in 1624, and was made preacher at
Luddington, near Stratford, before becoming vicar of
Weston-on-Avon in
Gloucestershire. He sided with parliament in the
English Civil War and was arrested for a short time. He took the
covenant of 1643 and acted as chaplain to the parliamentary soldiers in Stratford for two years. According to his own words, in the Commentary to Job, Job 9:5, in 1657 he was "here in Herefordshire". He served as rector of
Welford-on-Avon in Gloucestershire between 1646 and 1660 and again as vicar of Weston from 1660 until his death in 1669. Trapp had married Mary Gibbard in 1624; they had eleven children. Their son Joseph (1638–1698), rector of
Cherrington,
Gloucestershire, was father of
Joseph Trapp, first
Oxford Professor of Poetry. :
Be careful what books you read, for as water tastes of the soil it runs through, so does the soul taste of the authors that a man reads. -- John Trapp :
He who rides to be crowned will not mind a rainy day. -- John Trapp :
Unity without verity is no better than conspiracy -- John Trapp Trapp's works have been quoted by religious writers including
Charles Spurgeon (1834–1892). Ruth Graham, the daughter of
Ruth Bell Graham, said that John Trapp, along with
C.S. Lewis and
George MacDonald, was one of her mother's three favorite sources for quotations. ==Works==