Oxford, but removed to Magdalen Hall, where he graduated. On the
breaking out of the rebellion he took the covenant; and in 1648 was
created B.D., and made warden of Wadham College by the Presbyterian
Committee for the Reformation of the University. He afterwards
subscribed to the engagement, and complied with the various changes of
the times, though apparently steadily attached to the monarchy. About
1656, he married Robina, sister of Oliver Cromwell, by whom he had no
issue; and in 1659 he was appointed master of Trinity College, Cambridge.
On the restoration he took the required oaths, and was appointed Dean of
Ripon, afterwards Dean of Exeter; and also preached to the Honourable
Society of Gray’s Inn. Through the influence of George, Duke of
Buckingham, he obtained the Bishopric of Chester, and was consecrated
November 15th, 1668, holding with it the rectory of Wigan. He died at
the house of Dr. Tillotson, who had married his daughter-in-law, on
November 19th, 1672, and was buried in the church of St. Lawrence, Jewry,
London. He was one of the founders of the Royal Society, to which he
bequeathed £400, and a pious, learned, and scientific man. Calamy says
“many ministers were brought in by Bishop Wilkins’ soft interpretation of
the terms of conformity.” “He was no great read man,” says Aubrey, “but
one of much and deepe thinkeing, and of a working head, and a prudent man
as well as ingeniose. He was a lustie, strong growne, well sett, broad
shouldered person; cheerful and hospitable. He was extremely well
beloved in his diocese.” Bishop Wilkins wrote several curious and
learned works, which are now scarce and of considerable value.
John Pearson, D.D., F.R.S., born at Snoring (or Creake), in Norfolk,
February 12th, 1612, educated at Eton, admitted of King’s College,
Cambridge, B.A. 1635, M.A. 1639, and shortly afterwards Prebendary of
Sarum. During the civil war he was chaplain to Lord Goring, and
afterwards in the same capacity in the family of Sir Robert Cook in
London. In 1650, he was minister of St. Clement’s, Eastcheap, London, at
which Church, he preached his incomparable lectures on the Creed, and
afterwards published them, as he states in the dedication to his
parishioners, at their request. At the Restoration, he was nominated one
of the king’s chaplains, installed Prebendary of Ely, September 22nd,
1660, and on the 26th of the same month and year, appointed Archdeacon of
Surrey, and admitted Master of Trinity College, on the 14th April, 1662.
Elected F.R.S. 1667.
This great and learned man was consecrated Bishop of Chester, February
9th, 1672–3. He died July 16th, 1686, and was buried in his own
Cathedral without any memorial. Burnet says he was in all respects the
greatest divine of the age; a man of great learning, strong reason, and a
clear judgment. He was a judicious and grave preacher, more instructive
than affective, and a man of a spotless life, and of an excellent temper.
He was not active in his diocese, but too remiss and easy in his
episcopal functions, and was a much better divine than a Bishop. He was
a speaking instance of what a great man may fall to, for his memory went
from him so entirely that he became a child some years before he
died.—_Hist. Own Times_, _Vol._ 3, _p._ 109–10.
Bishop Pearson has achieved for himself a splendid fame by his able work
on the Creed, which will long perpetuate his memory.
Thomas Cartwright, D.D. son of a schoolmaster of the same name, was born
at Southampton, 1st Sept. 1634, and was educated by presbyterian parents.
He was admitted of Magdalen college, Oxford, but removed to Queen’s
college by the parliamentary visitors in 1649; he afterwards became
chaplain of his college and vicar of Walthamstow, in Essex, and in 1659,
preacher at St. Mary Magdelene’s, in Fish-street, and an active promoter
of the popular faction. At the Restoration, he turned round and
distinguished himself by his extravagant zeal for the royal cause. He
had many valuable preferments bestowed upon him, and was created D.D.
although not standing for it. In 1672, being chaplain to the king, he
was installed Prebendary of Durham, and in 1675, nominated Dean of Ripon,
and was consecrated, October 17th, 1686, Bishop of Chester, “not by
constraint but willingly.” James the Second found him a ready and expert
agent, and appointed him one of the three commissioners to eject the
President and Fellows of Magdelen college, Oxford, for nobly resisting
the king’s arbitrary attempts to restore popery. Cartwright being an
unpopular man, found it necessary to leave the kingdom on the arrival of
the Prince of Orange in 1688. He escaped in disguise, and joined James
II. at St. Germains, whom he shortly afterwards accompanied to Ireland,
where, being seized with a dysentery, he died on the 15th April, 1689,
aged 54, and was buried the next night by the Bishop of Meath, in the
choir of Christ Church, Dublin. He died in communion with the Church of
England, although attempts were made by the Romanists, in his last
moments, to shake his creed, which his previous inconsistency and
constant intercourse with the agents of the Church of Rome had rendered
questionable. His diary, from August 1686, to October 1687, has been
edited for the Camden Society by Mr. Hunter, and will increase the
unfavourable estimate which posterity has formed of the vacillating
principles of this unhappy prelate; although there still appears to be
insufficient evidence to conclude with Ormerod that the bishop, on his
death-bed, expressed his faith in equivocal terms, leaving it doubtful
whether he died in communion of the protestant or popish churches; for
even Burnet, who says he was “one of the worst of men,” adds, “bad as he
was, he never made that step, even in the most desperate state of his
affairs;” and Antony á Wood rescues him from a similar charge.
Nicholas Stratford, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of Chester at Fulham, on
15th September, 1689. He was a firm supporter of the polity and
principles of the English Church, and was esteemed a learned and
primitive ecclesiastic. It is recorded of him that he never admonished
or reproved others, but in the spirit of meekness and conciliation, a
testimony which appears sufficiently confirmed by the christian tone
which pervades his “Dissuasion against Revenge,” which he addressed to
the conflicting parties in Manchester on leaving that parish. He was
appointed one of the governors of the bounty of the Queen Anne in the
first charter. He died February 12th, 1706–7, aged 74, and was buried in
his own cathedral, his whole diocese witnessing that in simplicity and
godly sincerity he had had his conversation in the world; he was
charitable and benevolent, humble and devout. Chester Blue Coat Hospital
was founded by this excellent bishop, and the Infirmary was founded by
his son, who bequeathed £300 to the charity.
Sir William Dawes, Bart., D.D., was appointed Dean of Bocking by Dr.
Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, and about 1697 was nominated chaplain
to King William III., whose favour he secured by a sermon he preached on
the 5th November. Being disappointed of the Bishopric of Lincoln in
1705, the queen nominated him without application to that of Chester, and
on the 8th February 1707, he was consecrated. He was very bountiful to
the poor clergy of the diocese, and augmented several small livings. In
1714 he was translated to York; Archbishop Sharpe, who died at Bath
February 2nd, 1713–14, having obtained a promise from Queen Anne that Sir
William Dawes should be his successor, because his grace thought that he
would be diligent in executing the duties of his laborious office.
Francis Gastrell, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of Chester in 1714, a
learned and pious man, who laboured with untiring energy, and whose
episcopate was characterized by great benevolence, prudence, and wisdom.
He compiled a most valuable MSS. concerning the benefices of the diocese,
entitled “Notitia Cestriensis,” which is considered “the noblest document
extant on the subject of the ecclesiastical antiquities of the diocese.”
He is also the author of a very useful work, entitled “The Christian
Institutes.” He died November 24th, 1725.
Samuel Peploe, S.T.P., was appointed to the see of Chester April 12th,
1726. He died February 21st, 1752, was buried in the cathedral near the
altar, where a monument was erected to his memory.
Dr. Edmund Keene, master of St. Peter’s, Cambridge, and rector of
Stanhope, succeeded Peploe, and held the rectory of Stanhope in
commendam. He was consecrated March 22nd, 1752. The present episcopal
palace was re-built by him out of his own fortune, at an expense of
£2,200. On his installation to the see of Ely in 1771—
William Markham, LL.D., Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, was elected Bishop
January 26th. Shortly afterwards he was appointed preceptor to the
Prince of Wales, and the Duke of York. From this See in 1776, he was
translated to the Archbishopric of York. He died in his 89th year,
universally beloved, and was buried in the cloisters of Westminster
Abbey.
Beilby Porteus, D.D., was born at York, May 8th, 1731, of American
parents, and was the youngest but one of nineteen children. He received
his early education at York and Ripon, and was afterwards admitted a
sizer of Christ’s College, Cambridge, in which University his merits and
abilities soon became distinguished, and were made more generally known
by his excellent poem on “Death,” which received the Seatonian Prize. In
1769, he was made chaplain to His Majesty, and December 31st, 1776, was
promoted to the Bishopric of Chester, from whence he was translated to
London in 1787, on the demise of Dr. Louth, and died on the 14th May,
1808, in the 78th year of his age. In 1772, he joined with some other
clergymen in an unsuccessful endeavour to obtain an amendment of some
portions of the Prayer Book. In 1769, he gave his support to a measure
for enlarging the liberties of protestant dissenters, and in 1781 opposed
an effort “to lay such restrictions on the catholics as would prevent
their increase.” He felt a deep interest in the cause of the slave, and
made strenuous efforts to improve the condition of the negroes of the
West Indies. Among other charitable benefactions, he transferred in his
lifetime nearly £7000 stock to the Archdeaconries of the diocese of
London, as a permanent fund for the relief of the poorer clergy of that
diocese; and he also established three annual gold medals at Christ’s
College, Cambridge, and by his will bequeathed his library to his
successors in the See of London, with a liberal sum towards erecting a
building for its reception in the episcopal palace at Fulham. This
learned and pious prelate wrote several works, which are highly esteemed.
At his own request, the inscription on his tomb simply records the dates
of his birth and death. {49} He was succeeded by—
William Cleaver, D.D., who was advanced to the See of Chester through the
interest of his former pupil, the Marquis of Buckingham, whom he had
attended as chaplain when Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was consecrated
Bishop, January 20th, 1788, and was translated to Bangor in 1799, and
from thence, on the death of Bishop Horsley in 1806, to the diocese of
St. Asaph, over which he continued to preside until his death, which took
place May 15th, 1815.
Henry William Majendie, D.D., canon of St. Paul’s, was nominated in the
place of Bishop Cleaver, May 24th, and consecrated June 14th, 1800,
translated in 1810, to the See of Bangor.
Bowyer Edward Sparke, D.D., Dean of Bristol, was consecrated January
21st, 1810, and translated to the See of Ely in 1812.
George Henry Law, Prebendary of Carlisle, was consecrated Bishop of
Chester, July 5th, 1812, and translated to the See of Bath and Wells in
the year 1824. Bishop Law was a fine scholar, and a most able divine.
Charles James Blomfield, D.D., the present learned Bishop of London, was
consecrated to the See of Chester in 1824. He was Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge, in which University his great talents and lofty
erudition secured for him high academical honours. Upon his translation
to the See of London in 1828 {50a} he was succeeded by—
John Bird Sumner, D.D., who has been as labouring in the use of his pen,
as he was faithful and assiduous in the fulfilment of his episcopal
duties. His voluminous writings have achieved for him great fame as an
able and eloquent divine. His prize essay, entitled “The Records of
Creation,” is a wonderful display of learning and reasoning power, and
will doubtless long perpetuate his brilliant reputation. His piety,
earnest zeal, and affable bearing, during the period he held the
Episcopate of Chester, secured the affection of all classes. He was
universally beloved. After having occupied the See of Chester for twenty
years, he was in 1848 appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
John Graham, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of this Diocese in 1848, and is
at present, with pious earnestness and diligence, fulfilling the duties
of his high office.
When Henry the Eighth dissolved the monastery of St. Werburgh and erected
it into a Cathedral Church, he founded a Deanery, two Archdeaconries, and
six Prebendaries. Under this new _regime_, John Clarke, the last Abbot
of the monastery, was appointed first Dean. His successor was Henry
Mann, who was, in 1546, consecrated Bishop of the Isle of Man. He was
succeeded by William Cliff, L.L.D. in 1547; Richard Walker in 1558; John
Peers in 1567; Richd. Langworth in 1571; Robert Dorset in 1579; Thomas
Modesley in 1580; John Rutter in 1589; William Barlow in 1602; Henry
Parry in 1605, who was afterwards made Bishop of Rochester, from which he
was successively translated to Gloucester and Worcester; he was succeeded
by Thomas Mallory in 1606, who held his appointment 38 years; he died at
Chester, April 3rd, 1644, and was buried in the choir of the Cathedral.
William Nicols, installed April 12th, 1644. His successor, after a
vacancy of about 2 years, was Henry Bridgman, presented July 13th, 1660,
he was consecrated Bishop of the Isle of Man, with leave to hold the
Deanery, _in commendam_. He died in Chester, May 15th, 1682, and was
buried in the Cathedral, without any memorial. Leycester says, “he hath
beautified and repaired the Deans’ house in the Abbey court very much.”
He was succeeded by James Arderne in 1682; he died August 18th, 1691, and
was buried in the choir of the Cathedral, with the following memorial on
one of the pillars:—“Near this place lies the body of Dr. James Arderne,
of this County, a while Dean of this Church, who though he bore more than
a common affection to his private relations, yet gave the substance of
his bequeathable estate to this Cathedral, which gift, his will was,
should be mentioned, that clergymen may consider whether it be not a sort
of sacrilege to sweep all away from the church and charity, into the
possession of their lay kindred, who are not needy. Dat. Oct. 27th,
1688. This plain monument with the above inscription, upon this cheap
stone, is according to the express words of Dean Arderne’s will.” His
successor was Lawrence Fogg, in 1691. His first preferment was the
Rectory of Hawarden, in Flintshire, from which he was ejected for
non-conformity. Subsequently, conforming, he was presented to the
vicarage of St. Oswald’s, by the Dean and Chapter, in 1672: he was buried
in the chapel of the Cathedral, and a monument was erected to his memory.
Walter Offley was installed in 1718. Thomas Allen in 1721. Thomas
Brooke in 1733. William Smith in 1758. This learned divine was
presented by the Earl of Derby to the Rectory of Trinity, Chester, in
1735. In 1753 he was nominated one of the Ministers of St. George’s
Church, Liverpool, by the corporation. In 1766, he was instituted to the
Rectory of Handley, Cheshire, by the Chapter of the Cathedral, and in the
following year he resigned the Chaplainship of St. George’s Church, on
which occasion the corporation of Liverpool presented him with 150
guineas, “for his eminent and good services in the said church.” He died
January 8th, 1787, in the 76th year of his age, and was buried on the
south side of the communion table in the cathedral. An elegant monument
was erected to his memory by his widow, with an inscription, reciting his
merits as a christian, a scholar, and a preacher.
Dr. Smith was worthily distinguished for his learning. He was an eminent
scholar, a sound divine, and a good poet. His elegant translations of
the Greek classics were held in great repute, and have been several times
reprinted. He was succeeded by George Cotton, who was installed February
10th, 1787. Hugh Cholmondley was appointed in 1806.
In this worthy Dean the poor had a generous benefactor, while the active
interest he took in every object which proposed the good of the city,
rendered him beloved by all. He was most laborious in his attention to
the duties of his office, and many important restorations were effected
in the cathedral by him. He was succeeded by Robert Hodgson, D.D., in
1816. Dr. Vaughan was appointed as his successor in 1820, who was
succeeded by Edward Coppleston, D.D., afterwards promoted to the
Bishopric of Llandaff, who erected the screen which separates the church
of St. Oswald, from the south side of the cathedral, at an expense of
£600. Henry Philpotts, D.D., was appointed Dean in 1828, and on his
promotion to the Bishopric of Exeter, in 1831, was succeeded by Dr.
Davys, the well known author of “Village Conversations on the Liturgy,”
“History of England for Children,” &c.
On his promotion to the See of Peterborough in 1839, the Rev. F. Anson,
D.D., was appointed Dean of Chester, to whose unremitting zeal, directed
by sound judgment and refined taste, we are indebted for the important
improvements which have been effected in the cathedral since his
appointment. Through his indefatigable energy, the noble edifice has
been greatly beautified; and many essential alterations have been
introduced in the choral service and architectural arrangements, which
have added very much to its decoration and general effect.
During the siege of Chester by the republican army, the cathedral was
very much damaged by those heroic but unscrupulous men. Notwithstanding
that one of the articles of surrender was to the effect that “no church
within the city, or evidence or writings, belonging to the same shall be
defaced,” in the face of this solemn engagement, they wantonly defaced
the cathedral choir, injured the organ, broke nearly all the painted
glass, and removed the fonts from the churches. Although the
parliamentary forces were cemented by their renowned leader, chiefly by
religious enthusiasm, and all their extraordinary movements directed and
sustained mainly by that feeling; it nevertheless did not restrain them
from committing violent outrages on the churches of the land. Religious
impulse banded them together, and impressed a singular unity on all their
movements. The memorable counsel of Cromwell to his men will be
remembered,—“put your trust in the Lord, and keep your powder dry;”—to
them the counsel was opportune, and met with a deep response; but they
respected but little the dictates of conscience and the christian
associations of others, whose religious views and modes of worship
differed from their own. Whatever judgment may be entertained respecting
their political course, and the issues in which it resulted, we apprehend
that the acts of violence they perpetrated on the sacred edifices which
others frequented and revered, as the places of their holy service,
cannot be justified on any principle.
In 1683 the cathedral was again wantonly damaged by a reckless mob,
instigated by the ambitious Duke of Monmouth. The Cowper MSS. gives us
the following detail of the disgraceful outrages which unhappily they
succeeded in perpetrating.
“In the middle of August, James, Duke of Monmouth, came to Chester,
greatly affecting popularity, and giving countenance to riotous
assemblies and tumultuous mobs, whose violence was such as to pelt
with stones the windows of several gentlemen’s houses in the city,
and otherwise to damage the same. They likewise furiously forced the
doors of the cathedral church and destroyed most of the painted
glass, burst open the little vestries and cupboards, wherein were the
surplices and hoods belonging to the clergy, which they rent to rags,
and carried away; they beat to pieces the baptismal font, pulled down
some monuments, attempted to demolish the organ, and committed other
enormous outrages.”
It now remains for us to give a description of this venerable religious
edifice. Although in its general external appearance, it may not present
the prepossessing attractions which appertain to some other cathedral
churches, it nevertheless has a history of peculiar interest; and in its
architectural delineations is well worthy of the study of the
ecclesiologist and the antiquary. From whatever side the cathedral is
viewed, it presents the appearance of a massive pile, and exhibits a
pleasing variety of styles in accordance with the taste of different
ages; some parts decorated with elaborate workmanship, while others are
perfectly simple and unadorned. The principal parts now standing are
not, perhaps, older than the 14th and 15th century, when the richly
ornamented style of Gothic architecture was at its zenith in this
country. Its general character may be termed the perpendicular. It has
been generally supposed that there are some remaining specimens of the
Saxon, and Lysons favours the theory; but Mr. Asphitel, in an interesting
and able lecture, delivered before the Archæological Society, stated that
he could not, from the most minute research, discover any portions of the
Saxon church. He considered it probable there might be some portions in
the foundations, but none, in his opinion, were visible.
The west front is said to have been the work of Abbot Ripley, who was
appointed to the abbacy in 1485. It is now in an unfinished state, and
it would seem that there was an intention to form two western towers.
The foundation of them was laid with much ceremony by Abbot Birchenshaw,
in 1508, the Mayor being then present: but the project was most likely
abandoned for want of funds. “Had the original design been executed,”
says Winkle, “it would not have been very imposing. The effect of it, as
it now appears, is much injured by a building which is connected with it,
and shuts out one of the turrets which flank on either side the west wall
of the nave. The original intention seems to have been the usual one,
viz., a square tower on each side of the west end of the nave. The
foundations of that on the north side still exist, the site of that on
the south is now occupied by a building called the consistory court, once
perhaps a chapel, in the west wall of which is a pointed window of four
lights, with perpendicular tracery, and flowing crocketted canopy with
rich finial; above the window is a belt of pannelled tracery, and on each
side of it is a niche with overhanging canopies, adorned with pendants
and pinnacles, and resting on good brackets. The statues are gone. The
parapet of this building is quite plain. The west entrance is a singular
and beautiful composition. The door itself is a Tudor arch, inclosed
within a square head, the spandrils are filled with rich and elegant
foliations, the hollow moulding along the top is deep and broad, and
filled with a row of angels half-lengths; all this is deeply recessed
within another Tudor arch, under another square head, with plain
spandrils of ordinary panelling. On each side of the door are four
niches, with their usual accompaniments of crocketted canopies,
pinnacles, and pendants, and instead of brackets, the statues stood on
pedestals with good bases and capitals. Above this entrance is the great
west window of the nave, deeply and richly recessed; it is of eight
lights, with elaborate tracery, of some breadth just below the spring of
the arch, and above this some simple tracery of the kind most common to
the latest age of the pointed style. The arch of the window is much
depressed, and has above it a flowing crocketted canopy, the gable has no
parapet, but is finished off with a simple coping. The flanking turrets
before-mentioned are octagonal, and have belts of panelled tracery and
embattled parapets.