James Maury

James Maury (1717–1769) was a prominent Virginia educator and Anglican cleric during the American Colonial period and the progenitor of the prominent Maury political family. The Reverend James Maury was a figure in the notable lawsuit that became known as "The Parson's Cause" in 1763, in which the young attorney Patrick Henry argued that the colony had the right to establish its own method of payment to clergy (which had been vetoed by the Crown).

Born in Dublin of French Protestant "Huguenot" descent, James Maury came to the Virginia colony as an infant with his parents. He became educated and attended The College of William and Mary. He went to England to become ordained as an Anglican minister in 1741. He established his own classical school for boys, where he taught the young Thomas Jefferson among others. In February 1742, Maury went to England and was ordained as an Anglican cleric of the established Church of England. Returning to Virginia, The Reverend James Maury was in charge for one year of a parish in King William County and then served for 18 years in Louisa County at Fredericksville Parish. He was highly regarded for his piety and learning. Maury was in charge of his parish until his death on June 9, 1769.

He was the son of Matthew Maury, a French Huguenot, who was born in Castel Mauron, in Gascony, and his wife, Mary Anne Fontaine, daughter of Rev. James Fontaine and Anne Elizabeth Boursiquot. James Maury was born per his tombstone, April 8, 1717, in Dublin. Shortly after his birth, the family emigrated to the Virginia colony, where hundreds of Huguenot refugees had settled above the falls of the James River in the early 1700s.

Maury was tutored and attended The College of William and Mary. After ordination to the Anglican ministry on July 31, 1742, he was appointed usher of its grammar school.

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