Nathaniel Mather was born at
Much Woolton, near
Liverpool,
Lancashire, on 20 March 1631, as the second son of
Richard Mather. In 1635 his father took him to New England, where he graduated M.A. at Harvard College in 1647. He finished his studies in England, probably returning with his brother
Samuel in 1650. Mather was assistant to George Mortimer (died 1688) at
Harberton, Devonshire (a
Parliamentary sequestered vicarage), and succeeded him there in 1655. In 1656 he was presented by the
Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell to the sequestered vicarage of
Barnstaple, Devonshire, in which the vicar, Martin Blake (1593–1673), B.D., was reinstated at the
Restoration. After the Restoration, Mather then went over to Holland, and for some years was pastor of the English Church at Rotterdam. On the death of his brother Samuel, he succeeded him (1671) as minister at New Row, Dublin. In 1688, the year of the
Glorious Revolution, he left Ireland, and became pastor of the independent church in Paved Alley, Lime Street, London, vacant by the death of
John Collins (1632?–1687). Mather joined the "Happy Union" of 1691, but was a leader in its disruption owing to the alleged heresies of
Daniel Williams (1643?–1716), D.D. On the withdrawal of
William Bates (1625–1699), D.D. (who sided with Williams), from the Pinners' Hall lectureship, Mather was appointed (1694) in his place. He died on 26 July 1697, and was buried at
Bunhill Fields, where a long Latin inscription was placed upon his tombstone. A still longer Latin epitaph is in Isaac Watts's
Lyric Poems. He was of tall stature. ==Works==