Zacheus Isham (1651–1705) was a Church of England clergyman and religious author.
Zacheus (Zacchaeus) Isham was the son of Thomas Isham, Rector of Barby, Northamptonshire (d. 1676) and his wife Mary Isham (d. 1694). He was also the grandson of another Zacheus Isham, who was the first cousin once removed of Sir John Isham, Bt.[1][2]
He matriculated in 1666 from Christ Church, Oxford, eventually earning his B.A. (1671), M.A. (1674), B.D. (1682), and D.D. (1689) degrees there. After completing his third degree in 1671, he served for a while as tutor to his cousin Sir Thomas Isham, Bt., accompanying Sir Thomas to Italy and elsewhere, where they collected many art works that are on display today at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire.[3]
Rev. Isham was married to Elizabeth Pittis, the daughter of Rev. Thomas Pittis, D.D., chaplain to King Charles II. They had four sons and four daughters, the second of whom, Mary (d 1750), married Arthur Brooke, the grandfather of Sir Richard de Capell Brooke, Bt.[1][2]
He published the following works.
Several sermons, including one on the death of Dr. John Scott (1694), which is incorporated in Wilford's Memorials.
The Catechism of the Church, with Proofs from the New Testament, 1695, 8vo.
Philosophy containing the Book of Job, Proverbs, and Wisdom, with explanatory notes, 1706, 8vo.
There is also a short piece of his among the Rawlinson Manuscript in the Bodleian Library entitled The Catechism of the Church, with Proofs from the New Testament, and some additional questions and answers, 1694.
An attestation by Isham and others is prefixed to George Keith's Fourth Narrative ... detecting the Quakers' Gross Errors in Quotations ..., 1706, 4to.
Burdon, Gerald (1960), Sir Thomas Isham: an English collector in Rome, 1677-8,in Italian Studies, Maney Publishing, v. 15, p. 1-25. An abstract is available online at Ingentaconnect. accessed 5 April 2013.
Isham, Sir Gyles (1969), Sir Thomas Isham: an English collector in Rome, 1677-8,: A Selection of Pictures, Engravings, Books and Manuscripts Lent by Sir Gyles Isham, Bart., from Lamport Hall, Northampton: Exhibited at Central Art Gallery, Northampton, 12th July to August, 1969