HISTORY OF THE SEE.
Ely thus became a cathedral--of the kind that was called conventual
cathedrals. No such cathedral had a dean and canons till the time of
Henry VIII. The prior and convent were the custodians of the fabric, and
perhaps to a certain extent they acted as the bishop's council; and the
bishop, as representing the abbot, had the right to preside in the
chapter-house whenever he chose.[1] The bishop also had the power of
appointing several of the officers of the monastery, and of displacing
them. At Ely the priors were appointed by the bishop until 1198. In 1197
the offices of bishop and prior were vacant at the same time, and the
convent was unable to elect a bishop without having a prior: so the
Archbishop of Canterbury authorised the monks to proceed to the election
of a prior; and it is believed that subsequent priors were all elected
by the monks, and not appointed by the bishop.
The first bishop, as has been seen, was #Hervey# (1109-1131), Bishop
of Bangor.[2] He had been consecrated in 1102. His ecclesiastical
discipline in Wales was very strict, and he made many enemies; and he
thought to carry out his spiritual censures with the help of armed
forces, but insurrections arose, in one of which his own brother and
several of his company were slain. Upon this Bishop Hervey made his way
to the English court, where he remained until he was sent to take charge
of Ely monastery at the death of Abbot Richard. He was bishop here for
nearly twenty-two years, and was most active and painstaking in managing
the very difficult business of settling the affairs of the bishopric and
monastery in such a way that justice was done to both. He died in 1131.
After two years #Nigel# (1133-1169) was made bishop. He was
Prebendary of S. Paul's and also Treasurer to King Henry I. This latter
office necessitated his continuous absence from his diocese, and may
also serve to explain the very active part he took in the civil wars. He
espoused the cause of the Empress Matilda, and built a castle at Ely as
a military position where a good stand could be made against the
partisans of Stephen. More than once he narrowly escaped being taken;
and when at first Stephen's cause prospered, all Bishop Nigel's estates
and property were seized. When the chances of war favoured Matilda he
recovered the Isle of Ely and was fully restored to his bishopric. By
this time he had had enough of fighting, and made his peace with
Stephen. But his troubles were not at an end. As he was going to consult
some friends who were with the Empress upon a matter unconnected with
politics, he was nearly taken prisoner by a party of the king's forces,
losing all his baggage and everything he had with him. Being summoned to
Rome, he was, in his absence, suspected of favouring the king's enemies,
and his possessions were again seized. Only with great difficulty, and
after paying a large fine, did he obtain Stephen's pardon. At one time
he was suspended by the Pope "pro bonis Ecclesise suse dispersis"; but
the suspension was removed on condition that he restored the goods. When
King Henry II. came to the throne, Nigel was made Baron of the
Exchequer. Some have attributed to him the foundation of the hospital
for canons regular dedicated to S. John at Cambridge, an institution
afterwards absorbed in Lady Margaret's College of S. John the
Evangelist. He died in 1169.
There was an interval of four years before a new bishop was appointed,
and it was more than five before #Geoffrey Riddell# (1174-1189) was
consecrated. He was one of the king's chaplains, a Baron of the
Exchequer, and Archdeacon of Canterbury. The delay in his consecration
was due to a disagreement between King Henry II. and his son Henry, who
had actually been crowned, the latter considering that he ought to have
a voice in the appointment. The dispute was not settled without an
appeal to Rome. Bishop Riddell furthered the building of the church, and
embellished it in various ways. He also recovered some property that had
been taken away. Before consecration he had been compelled to profess
publicly that he had had nothing to do with the murder of Archbishop
Becket: "Mortem S. Thomæ Archiepiscopi neque verbo neque facto neque
scripto scienter procuravit." He became very wealthy. He died in 1189 at
Winchester, whither he had gone to welcome King Richard. Not long after
his death his tomb was violated, and the episcopal ring on his finger
purloined. The violators were anathematised from the pulpit.
The fourth bishop was #William Longchamp# (1189-1197), Chancellor of
England and subsequently Papal Legate. When the king went abroad he was
appointed to govern England south of the Trent. He behaved in this
office "with great insolence, pride, and oppression," and having
particularly offended John, the king's brother, he made an attempt to
escape from the country in the disguise of a woman; but he was detected
at Dover and thrown into prison. Being allowed, after a time, to go to
Normandy, he there waited until the king's return, by whom he was
restored to favour. He died in 1197 at Poictiers, and was buried there
in a Cistercian abbey, his heart being brought to Ely.
He was succeeded by #Eustace# (1198-1215), Archdeacon of Richmond,
Treasurer of York, Dean of Salisbury, and Keeper of the Great Seal. He
was one of the bishops to whom was entrusted the invidious employment of
publishing the excommunication of King John and putting the kingdom
under an interdict. For this, in 1209, he was outlawed, and had to leave
the country. Upon the king's submission in 1213, he (with Archbishop
Stephen Langton and three other bishops) returned to England. He built
the galilee at the west end of the church. He died in 1215 at Reading.
Robert of York was chosen by the monks to succeed him. They had at first
selected Geoffrey de Burgh, but for some reason that does not appear
they altered their minds before making their selection known. Robert
got possession of the temporalities, and even gave away preferments that
were in the bishop's gift, for five years; but the king never consented
to his appointment, nor was he ever consecrated. He took the part of the
French against the king, who at last applied to the pope to nominate
some one else to the See of Ely. Accordingly, upon the recommendation of
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Legate Pandulph, and the Bishop of
Salisbury, who had been authorised by the pope to make the selection,
#John Pherd# (1220-1225), Abbot of Fountains, hence called De
Fontibus, was made bishop. He was also Treasurer of England. He died at
Downham in 1225, and was succeeded by the same #Geoffrey De Burgh#
(1225-1228) who had at first been elected by the convent upon the death
of Eustace. He was Archdeacon of Norwich, and brother to Hubert de
Burgh, Earl of Kent. He gave much costly plate to the monastery, as well
as three hundred acres of land.
Upon his death, #Hugh Norwold# or Northwold (1229-1254), Abbot of
Bury S. Edmunds, became bishop. He had been a justice itinerant. He was
one of the embassy sent to conduct to England the king's bride, Eleanor
of Provençe. "He was one of the most eminent examples of piety and
virtue in his time." He is especially commended for his hospitality and
liberality to the poor; and he was a great benefactor to the monastery.
He spent more than £5000 on the fabric of the church, and built the
palace. The six eastern bays of the presbytery are his work. After
removing to this new part of the church the remains of the three sainted
abbesses and S. Withburga and also the so-called relics of S. Alban, he
dedicated the whole church on September 17th, 1252, in the presence of
King Henry III. and his son, Prince Edward. Bishop Norwold died at
Downham in 1254, and was buried at the feet of S. Etheldreda, where a
splendid monument was erected over his body, now removed to the north
side of the presbytery, beneath the third arch from the east.
The next bishop was #William De Kilkenny# (1255-1256), Archdeacon of
Coventry and chancellor of the king. After his consecration, which took
place ten months after his election, he only lived thirteen months. He
was consecrated by Archbishop Boniface at Belley, in Savoy, a place
near the Rhone, about forty miles east of Lyons. He died in Spain while
negotiating a treaty, and was there buried, at Sugho. His heart was
brought to Ely.
#Hugh Belsham# (1257-1286) the sub-prior, came next. He founded
Peterhouse (now S. Peter's College) at Cambridge. He had been elected in
defiance of the king's recommendation, and the king tried to annul his
election; but he proceeded to Rome, and was actually consecrated there
by the pope. It is in connection with his election that we learn that
the custom of the monks was to depute the election of a bishop to a
committee of seven chosen from among themselves. Bishop Hugh died at
Doddington in 1286.
The next bishop, #John Kirkby# (1286-1290), although at the time of
his appointment Dean of Wimborne, Archdeacon of York, and Canon both of
Wells and York, was only in deacon's orders. He was accordingly ordained
priest one day and consecrated bishop the next. Three years previously
he had been elected to the See of Rochester, but had declined it. He had
also been Chancellor and Treasurer of England. He gave to his successors
a house in Holborn, which formed the nucleus of the grand palace
afterwards erected, adjacent property being subsequently acquired. He
died in 1290.
His successor, #William De Louth# (1290-1298) was not even in holy
orders at all when elected; yet he held prebends at S. Paul's, York, and
Lincoln, the Archdeaconry of Durham, and the Deanery of S.
Martin's-le-Grand. He is the only Bishop of Ely who was consecrated at
Ely (it was in S. Mary's Church, not the cathedral), a provincial
council of bishops happening to meet there at the time.
#Ralph Walpole# (1299-1302), Bishop of Norwich, was, on the death of
Bishop Louth in 1298, translated to Ely; the prior, John Salmon, who had
been elected by the monks, being made instead Bishop of Norwich. Walpole
had been formerly Archdeacon of Ely. He revised the statutes of the
monastery during the short time that he held the see, which was less
than three years.
The next bishop, #Robert Orford# (1302-1310), like his predecessor,
Hugh Belsham, was consecrated at Rome, though not, as he had been, by
the pope himself. The Archbishop of Canterbury had refused his consent
to the appointment on the ground that the elect was illiterate, but the
pope overruled the objection. He died at Downham in 1310.
A monk of the house, #John Keeton# (1310-1316), succeeded. King
Edward II. visited Ely in his time, and while there settled the
controversy between Ely and S. Albans as to the true place where the
body of the proto-martyr of England was deposited. The remains of S.
Alban had been carried off to Denmark by the Danes, after plundering the
abbey raised to his honour, and recovered by a trick. At a later time,
fearing again an attack from the Danes, the Abbot of S. Albans sent to
Ely a chest containing (so he said) the relics of the martyr for safe
custody. When the troubles were over, the monks of Ely sent back the
chest, but with other bones in it, supposing that they had thereby
secured the true relics for their own church. So the Abbot of S. Albans
declared that they were not the true relics that he had sent to Ely, but
that he had buried them in a fresh place in his own church. The king, in
1314, decided the matter in favour of S. Albans.
At the death of Bishop Keeton in 1316 the bishopric was conferred upon
#John Hotham# (1316-1337), Chancellor of the Exchequer. Bentham calls
him Prebendary of York and Rector of Collingham; Browne Willis calls him
Provost of Queen's College, Oxford, and Chancellor of the University,
and S.T.P., being the first bishop in his list who is credited with any
university degree. He was a man of great eminence both as a bishop and
as a statesman. In his political capacity he was Lord Chancellor. He was
employed more than once on foreign embassies. He was one of the
commissioners to arrange a truce between England and Scotland after the
Battle of Myton in 1319, at which he had been present. He was made
special commissioner to settle the troubles in Gascony. In his
ecclesiastical capacity he added much landed property both to the see
and the monastery. He erected the choir, providing for the building of
the western bays after the fall of the tower. He obtained confirmatory
charters from the king, and also a grant giving to the prior and convent
the custody of the temporalities of the see during a vacancy, upon
paying to the king, as long as their custody lasted, at the rate of
£2000 a year. He died, "vir prudens, Justus, et munificus," in 1337.
The monks desired that their prior, John Crauden, should become bishop;
but the king translated hither #Simon Montacute# (1337-1345), Bishop
of Worcester. In a letter to the pope about him, in 1318, King Edward
II. calls him his cousin (_consanguineus_). He materially assisted the
buildings at the church, particularly the lady-chapel. He died in 1345.
Again the nomination of the monks, in favour of their prior, Alan de
Walsingham, was set aside, and #Thomas De Lisle# (1345-1361) became
bishop. He was prior of the Dominican Friars at Winchester. For nearly
the whole of his episcopate he was engaged in a prolonged controversy
with Lady Blanche Wake, a daughter of the Earl of Lancaster--the same
lady who afterwards married John of Gaunt and became mother of King
Henry IV. Her estates were contiguous to the bishop's manors in
Huntingdonshire, and frequent disputes arose about their boundaries. The
tenants took violent measures to assert the claims of their respective
landlords, and much litigation ensued. The bishop, by his haughty
behaviour, offended both the courts and the king, to whom he appealed;
and at last he was constrained to escape to Avignon, then the seat of
the pope. Here he had been consecrated; and here, while negotiations
were proceeding for settling the dispute, in 1361 he died; and here he
was buried.
This time the monks elected, not one of their own body, but the Dean of
Lichfield. But once again their nomination was disregarded, and #Simon
Langham# (1362-1366) was appointed bishop. He was Abbot of Westminster
and Treasurer of England. He had lately declined the See of London. He
was afterwards Lord Chancellor, and in 1366 he was translated to
Canterbury; but he only remained archbishop till he was created a
cardinal in 1368. In 1374 he was appointed Bishop of Præneste. Like his
predecessor, he died and was buried at Avignon. This was in 1376. After
three years his body was removed to Westminster Abbey, where his
handsome monument is well known. The inscription implies that all the
world sorrowed at his death: "Orbe dolente Pater ... ruit."
On his removal to Canterbury, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, #John
Barnet# (1366-1373), was translated to Ely. He had been previously
Bishop of Worcester, and for a time Treasurer of England. He
"beautified" five of the windows in the presbytery. He died at Hatfield
in 1373, but was buried at Ely.
His successor was #Thomas Fitz-Alan# (1374-1388), son of the Earl of
Arundel, Archdeacon of Taunton. He is said at the time not to have been
in holy orders and under twenty-three years of age. The convent had in
vain elected the Archdeacon of Northampton. Bishop Arundel (so he is
generally called) was Chancellor of England in 1386, but resigned that
office in 1389, the year after he was made Archbishop of York. He
ultimately became Archbishop of Canterbury, and died in 1414. He almost
rebuilt the Bishop of Ely's palace in London. He fell into disfavour
with King Richard II., and was banished; but he returned to England on
the accession of King Henry IV. He was buried at Canterbury.
#John Fordham# (1388-1425), who succeeded Bishop Arundel at Ely, was
Bishop of Durham. He had been Keeper of the Privy Seal. He died at
Downham in 1425, and was followed by #Philip Morgan# (1426-1435),
Bishop of Worcester. The king had given licence to the monks to elect,
and had recommended his confessor. They elected instead their prior; but
neither obtained the see. In Bishop Morgan's time the University of
Cambridge secured entire freedom from the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of
the Bishops of Ely: in the time of the previous bishop the University
had got rid of the necessity of presenting their chancellor to the
Bishop of Ely for confirmation. Bishop Morgan died at Hatfield in 1435,
and was buried at the Charterhouse in London.
There was much dispute about the next bishop. The monks chose Fitz-Hugh,
Bishop of London; but he died. The king then recommended the Bishop of
S. David's; but the monks preferred Thomas Bouchier, Bishop of
Worcester, whom the king refused. Bouchier appealed to the pope, who at
first confirmed his election; but the bishop-elect was afraid to present
the papal bull. This was an opportunity for the king (Henry VI.) "to
gratify one of his numerous adherents of the French nation, who had lost
their all in that kingdom, and followed his fortunes in this." He
accordingly obtained the pope's consent to appoint #Lewis De
Luxemburg# (1438-1443), Archbishop of Rouen, to be administrator of
the Diocese of Ely, at the same time assigning him the £2000 a year due
from the prior and convent to the king during a vacancy. The bulls for
Bishop Bouchier's translation from Worcester were revoked. This was in
1438, which is held to be the beginning of Bishop Luxemburg's tenure of
the see; but the spiritualities were not legally surrendered to him till
the next year, and even then it seems to have been only under the title
of "Perpetual Administrator of the See of Ely"; and in formal documents
some time later he still has the same title, and even in the pope's bull
appointing a new Bishop of Ely after his death. He had been Bishop of
Terouanne, Chancellor of Normandy, and Governor of Paris, and was a
great upholder in France of the cause of the King of England. He was
afterwards cardinal. He was hardly ever in his diocese of Ely. He died
at Hatfield in 1443, and was buried at Ely, his heart being taken to
Normandy to be interred at Rouen.
There was now no opposition to the appointment of #Thomas Bouchier#
(1444-1454), Bishop of Worcester. He was of the blood royal, being
grandson of Thomas of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, son of King Edward
III. He was not liked at Ely, where, after his installation, he would
never take part in any solemn service. He became Archbishop of
Canterbury in 1454, Lord Chancellor in 1455, and cardinal in 1464. He
crowned three kings. He died in 1486 at his palace at Knole, and was
buried at Canterbury.
He was succeeded by #William Gray# (1454-1478), Archdeacon of
Northampton. He was for a time Treasurer of England and employed as
Commissioner and Ambassador. He gave material assistance to the cost of
the works at the west tower of the cathedral, and in various ways
improved the presbytery. He was a great benefactor to Balliol College,
Oxford. He died at Downham in 1478.
The next bishop was #John Morton# (1479-1486). He had held very
numerous preferments, including no less than five archdeaconries, and
was Master of the Rolls. He was made Lord Chancellor in the same year
that he was appointed to Ely. While bishop he executed some important
works to improve the navigation and drainage of the fens. The great
artificial cut between Peterborough and Wisbech which he constructed is
still called Morton's Learn. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in
1486, and cardinal in 1493. He died at Knole in 1500, and was buried at
Canterbury.
[Illustration: THE NORTH CHOIR AISLE, LOOKING EAST.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
#John Alcock# (1486-1500) succeeded him at Ely. He was Bishop of
Worcester, previously of Rochester, and had been for a few months Lord
Chancellor. He founded Jesus College, Cambridge, upon the dissolution of
the ancient nunnery of S. Rhadegund. He was a great architect, and
erected many costly buildings. He built the great hall in the palace at
Ely, much improved the palace at Downham, founded a school at Hull, and
erected a chapel in the church there, and built the beautiful chapel in
Ely Cathedral, where his body now lies. He died at Wisbech in 1500.
After nearly a year's interval, #Richard Redman# (1501-1505) became
bishop. He was Bishop of Exeter, previously of S. Asaph. He died at Ely
House in London in 1505.
[Illustration: BISHOP WEST'S CHAPEL.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
The next bishop was #James Stanley# (1506-1515), son of the first
Earl of Derby. Among other preferments he held was the Wardenship of
Manchester. He built part of Somersham palace, and was a considerable
benefactor to the Collegiate Church of Manchester, where he was
ultimately buried, although he left directions in his will to be buried
at Ely. His numerous promotions are possibly due to the influence of
his stepmother, the famous Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond and
Derby, the mother of King Henry VII. He was very little at Ely, and bore
an indifferent moral character. The quaint set of verses[3] drawing his
character says there was "little Priest's metal in him," that he was "a
goodly tall man as any in England," that he was made bishop "for his
wisdom and parentage," that he was "a great Viander as any in his days,"
which last expression probably means that he was unduly given to
hospitality. He died at Manchester in 1515.
#Nicholas West# (1515-1533) who succeeded him, was the son of a
baker. He had been employed in foreign embassies, and was Dean of
Windsor and Archdeacon of Derby. He lived in great splendour, and
relieved the poor with much bounty. He was a benefactor to King's
College, Cambridge, where he had been fellow. He took the part of Queen
Katherine of Arragon, to whom he was chaplain, in the question of the
divorce; and the disfavour into which he consequently fell with the king
is thought to have hastened his death, which took place in 1533.
[Illustration: THE BRASS OF BISHOP GOODRICH, LORD CHANCELLOR TO EDWARD
VI., DIED 1554. (He holds the Great Seal in his right hand.)]
#Thomas Goodrich# (1533-1554) was a "zealous forwarder of the
Reformation." He was one of the revisers of the translation of the New
Testament, and assisted in the compilation of the Prayer-book. He was
also Lord Chancellor. In his time, in 1539, the monastery was
surrendered to the king. All the inmates were pensioned or otherwise
provided for. Dugdale gives the revenues of the monastery at its
dissolution as £1084 6_s._ 9_d._; Speed says £1301 8_s._ 2_d._ Bishop
Goodrich's monumental brass in the cathedral is a very important example
of such memorials. He died at Somersham in 1554.
#Thomas Thirlby# (1554-1559) was Bishop of Norwich, having been
previously the first and only Bishop of Westminster. "He is said to have
been a discreet moderate man"; but he lived in troublous times, and had
the distasteful task of committing some so-called heretics to the
flames. He was dispossessed of his bishopric soon after the accession of
Queen Elizabeth, and sent to the Tower. He was, however, soon released,
and permitted to live in retirement with Archbishop Parker at Lambeth,
where he died and was buried in 1570.
#Richard Cox# (1559-1581) was Dean of Westminster and of Christ
Church, Oxford. He was much troubled at the series of alienations of the
property of the see insisted upon by the Government, and used every
effort to secure what he could for his successors; and for this
opposition, and also for his being married, he fell under the queen's
disfavour, and many times solicited permission to resign his see, but he
remained bishop till his death in 1581.
For eighteen years the see was vacant, all the revenues being absorbed
by the Crown. At last #Martin Heaton# (1600-1609) was made bishop. He
was Dean of Winchester. He has the reputation of having been a pious,
hospitable man, and a good preacher. He died at Mildenhall, in Suffolk,
in 1609.
His successor was the famous #Lancelot Andrewes# (1609-1619), Bishop
of Chichester. He was a man "of extraordinary endowments, very pious and
charitable, of a most blameless life, an eminent Preacher, of universal
learning, and one of those principally concerned in the new Translation
of the Bible." He became Bishop of Winchester in 1619, and died in 1626,
being buried at S. Saviour's, Southwark. Milton has a Latin elegy upon
his death, written when the poet was in his seventeenth year. Dean
Duport[4] has also a short poem in the form of an epitaph on him, in
which occur these lines:
"Hoc sub nomine quippe continentur
Virtus, ingenium, eruditioque,
Fides, et pietas, amorque veri,
Doctrinæ jubar, Orthodoxiæque
Ingens destina, schismatis flagellum,
Tortor tortilis illius Draconis,
Scutum Ecclesiæ et ensis Anglicanæ
Contra bella, minas, et arma Romæ."
#Nicolas Felton# (1619-1626) was Bishop of Bristol. He died in 1626,
and was buried at S. Antholin's, London, where he had been rector.
#John Buckridge# (1628-1631) succeeded after an interval of eighteen
months. He was Bishop of Rochester. "A Person of great Learning and
Worth, and a true Son of the Church of England." He died in 1631, and
was buried at Bromley in Kent, near the palace of the Bishops of
Rochester.
#Francis White# (1631-1638) was Bishop of Norwich, previously of
Carlisle. Dying in 1638, he was buried in S. Paul's Cathedral.
#Matthew Wren# (1638-1667) was also Bishop of Norwich, and previously
of Hereford. He was an unflinching supporter of King Charles I. and
Archbishop Laud, and had a full share of the sufferings which his
principles involved, being imprisoned in the Tower for eighteen years,
from which imprisonment he was only released at the Restoration, when of
course he was restored to his see. Sir Christopher Wren was his nephew.
He had been fellow of Pembroke, Cambridge, and after the Restoration he
built a chapel for his old college, in which he was buried upon his
death in 1667.
#Benjamin Laney# (1667-1675) had been Bishop of Peterborough and then
of Lincoln. He spent a great deal of money in repairing the palace at
Ely, which was much dilapidated. He died in 1675. He is described on his
monument as being "facundia amabilis, acumine terribilis, eruditione
auctissimus."
#Peter Gunning# (1675-1684) had been Regius Professor of Divinity at
Cambridge, Master of Corpus Christi, and then of S. John's College, and
Bishop of Chichester. He composed the prayer "For all Sorts and
Conditions of Men" in the Prayer-book. He is very highly praised in the
inscription on his monument, which also records that he never was
married.
#Francis Turner# (1685-1691) had been Master of S. John's College,
Cambridge, also Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Rochester. He was, with
six other bishops, sent to the Tower in 1688 for presenting to the king
a petition which was called a seditious libel. They were committed on
June 8th and tried on June 29th. Amidst universal acclamations of joy
and enthusiasm they were acquitted. In 1691 Bishop Turner, with
Archbishop Sancroft and four other bishops, upon refusing to take the
oaths to William and Mary, were deprived of their bishoprics. He lived
in retirement for nine years, and died in 1700. He was buried at
Therfield, in Hertfordshire, where he had been rector.
#Simon Patrick# (1691-1707) had been Dean of Peterborough and Bishop
of Chichester. He was a very learned man and a great writer. His
writings, says his epitaph, are superior to any inscription and more
lasting than any marble. He died in 1707.
#John Moore# (1707-1714), Bishop of Norwich, was a book-collector,
and after his death his library was purchased by the king and presented
to the University of Cambridge. He died in 1714.
#William Fleetwood# (1714-1723) was translated to Ely from S. Asaph.
He was a great supporter of the principles of the Revolution, and
towards the end of Queen Anne's reign, when the Jacobites seemed to be
making very many adherents, he published some sermons, to which was
prefixed a preface setting forth his opinion of the dangerous tendency
of the views that were being spread so industriously. The House of
Commons condemned the book; but upon the arrival of King George, his
services were recognised by his translation to Ely. He died at Tottenham
in 1723.
#Thomas Greene# (1723-1738) was Bishop of Norwich and previously
Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In Masters' history of that
college a very high character of him is given, and his publications are
greatly praised. He was zealous "for the Protestant Succession in the
illustrious House of Hanover." He died at Ely House in London in 1738.
His epitaph in the cathedral says he had the credit of diligence,
impartiality, and integrity in the administration of his diocese. One
expression is curious: "Pietate et Annis gravis, Accepta tandem Rude,
Uxori et numerosæ Proli ... Flebilis decessit." According to this he
was greatly lamented "when he received his discharge."
#Robert Butts# (1738-1748), like his predecessor, came from Norwich,
where he had been dean and then bishop. He died at Ely House in 1748,
possessed (according to the epitaph at Ely) of nearly all the virtues.
He came of a gentle family of moderate means: "tenui vico, at honesto
genere."
Again a Bishop of Norwich was translated to Ely. #Sir Thomas Gooch#,
second Baronet of Benacre (1748-1754), had been Master of Caius College,
Cambridge, and Bishop of Bristol before he went to Norwich. At Cambridge
he was instrumental in raising funds for building the Senate House; at
Norwich he greatly improved the palace, and obtained charters for two
societies for the relief of widows and orphans of the clergy; but there
is no record of anything special achieved by him at Ely. He died at Ely
House in 1754, and was buried in the chapel at Caius, where is a lengthy
inscription enumerating his preferments and his three wives.
#Matthias Mawson# (1754-1770) had been Master of Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, Bishop of Llandaff, and Bishop of Chichester. While
at Ely he spent large sums on the cathedral alterations, as described
above, and was also very active in encouraging, by his advice and purse,
the steps that were being taken to improve the roads near Ely and to
erect draining-mills. The adjoining lowlands had "been several years
under water; and the publick roads, at the same time, in so bad a state,
as not to be travelled with safety."[5] He founded several scholarships
at his old college, of the aggregate value of £400 a year. He died in
1770.
#Edmund Keene# (1771-1781) had been Master of Peterhouse and Bishop
of Chester. The inscription on his monument at Ely was written by
himself. He died in 1781.
#The Hon. James Yorke# (1781-1808), fifth son of the first Earl of
Hardwicke, had been Dean of Lincoln, Bishop of S. David's, and Bishop of
Gloucester. He died in 1808, and was buried at Forthampton, in
Gloucestershire.
#Thomas Dampier# (1808-1812) was son of the Dean of Durham. He was
Dean and afterwards Bishop of Rochester. He died suddenly in London in
1812, and was buried in the chapel of Eton College.
[Illustration: BISHOP WOODFORD'S TOMB.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]
#Bowyer Edward Sparke# (1812-1836), Bishop of Chester, previously
Dean of Bristol. In his time the temporal jurisdiction of the bishop
over the Isle of Ely came to an end. On State occasions a sword used to
be carried before the bishop when he attended cathedral service; but
this practice ceased when it was no longer right to exhibit any emblem
of judicial authority. The sword itself was buried with Bishop Sparke.
#Joseph Allen# (1836-1845), Bishop of Bristol. He published some
sermons and charges. He secured from the ecclesiastical commissioners a
large increase in the income of the bishopric.
#Thomas Turton# (1845-1864) had been Regius Professor of Divinity at
Cambridge, Dean of Peterborough, and, for a short time, Dean of
Westminster. He was author of several works. By his will he left £500
for the improvement of the nave of the cathedral. He died in 1864.
#Edward Harold Browne# (1864-1873) was of great reputation as a
scholar and theologian. He was chairman of the Old Testament Revision
Committee. He became Bishop of Winchester in 1873, and died at Bitterne,
in Hampshire, in 1891. He was buried at West End, Southampton.
#James Russell Woodford# (1873-1885) was Vicar of Leeds. He published
many sermons and lectures, and was well known as a successful organizer
and an eloquent preacher. He died in 1885.
#Lord Alwyne Compton# (1885-1905) was a son of the second Marquess of
Northampton, and was previously Dean of Worcester. Resigned, and died,
1906, and was buried at S. Martin's, Canterbury.
#Frederic Henry Chase# (1905-) was formerly Norrisian and Lady
Margaret Professor, and President of Queens' College, Cambridge, and is
the author of numerous works in critical theology.
The names and dates of the earlier bishops are taken from Bishop Stubbs'
"Registrum Sacrum Anglicanum." Of the bishops between 1609 and 1845
there was only one (Peter Gunning) who was not translated to Ely from
some other see. It is now an unwritten law that the Bishop of Ely should
be a Cambridge man. For at least two centuries and a half this rule has
been followed, if we except Francis Turner; and he, though of New
College, Oxford, had been Master of S. John's, Cambridge. Unless
otherwise stated, the bishops were buried at Ely.
The original diocese of Ely was enlarged, in 1837, by the addition of
the counties of Huntingdon and Bedford, and the archdeaconry of Sudbury.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Cathedrals "of the old foundation" were cathedrals from the
first, and had deans and chapters of secular canons. Those that
were once conventual churches had no deans or canons till Henry
VIII. An easy way of identifying cathedrals of the old foundation
is this: if the non-resident canons have the title of
prebendaries, they are members of a cathedral of the old
foundation. The modern dignity of honorary canon was created in
order that all other cathedrals might have a body of clergy
corresponding to the prebendaries of the ancient cathedrals.
[2] He is called, in Bishop Stubbs' "Registrum Sacrum
Anglicanum," Herve le Breton.
[3] Quoted by Bentham, p. 187.
[4] Of Peterborough, in his "Musæ Subsecivæ."
[5] Bentham, p. 213.
[Illustration: PRIOR CRAUDEN'S CHAPEL.
_Photochrom Co. Ltd. Photo._]