Sir Erasmus Henry Dryden, 5th Baronet


Sir Erasmus Henry Dryden, 5th Baronet was an English Roman Catholic priest.

Biography

Erasmus Henry, born 2 May 1669, was the third son of John Dryden the poet, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Berkshire. He was a scholar at the Charterhouse, and "elected to the university" November 1685. He studied at Douay, entered the novitiate of the Dominicans 1692, was ordained priest in 1694.
Dryden was at Rome in 1697, residing in the convent of the English Dominicans, and in that year was sent to the convent of Holy Cross, Bornheim, of which he was sub-prior until 1700. He then returned to England to labour on the mission in Northamptonshire. From 1708 he resided at Canons Ashby, which in that year had passed by will to his cousin Edward, eldest son of his father's younger brother, Erasmus. In 1710 he became baronet upon the death of another cousin, Sir John Dryden, 4th Baronet, grandson of the Sir Erasmus Drayton 1st Baronet, of Canons-Ashby. The 5th baronet was apparently imbecile at this time and died soon after.
He was buried at Canons Ashby, 4 December 1710. and succeeded as Baronet by his uncle, Sir Erasmus Dryden, 6th Baronet.