The earliest reference to him is in Alumni Cantabrigienses and records that he was born at Collingham, West Yorkshire, on 28 April 1639, attended Sherburn School and went to Peterhouse, Cambridge University, in 1655, graduating Bachelor 1659 and Master of Arts 1662.
Peterhouse.
In 1665 plague hit England, and a consignment of cloth bound for his village brought with it the infectious fleas which spread the disease. After an initial flurry of deaths in the autumn of that year it died down during the winter only to come back even more virulently in the spring of 1666. Mompesson became associated with the plague and was not universally welcomed at his next parish, Eakring.
She was a relative of his patron, Sir George Saville, and through his patronage Mompesson eventually became Prebendary of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, although he declined the opportunity to be Dean of Lincoln Cathedral.
He died in 1709. This historic episode, commemorated each year in the village, has been the subject of many books and plays, notably The Roses of Eyam by Don Taylor (1970). Recently academics have begun to examine the factual basis of the story"s key ingredients: for example the extent to which wealthier residents were able to circumvent the ban.
