Dean of Canterbury
Encyclopedia
The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter
of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury
, England
. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation
, and its precursor office was the prior
of the cathedral-monastery. The 39th and current Dean
is Robert Willis
, who was appointed in 2001.
rather than a dean. It would next have a dean after the Dissolution of the Monasteries
.
Chapter (religion)
Chapter designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches....
of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, and its precursor office was the prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
of the cathedral-monastery. The 39th and current Dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
is Robert Willis
Robert Willis (dean)
Robert Willis is an Anglican priest. He has been the Dean of Canterbury in the Church of England since 2001. Before this he was the Dean of Hereford.Willis is a graduate of Warwick University and Ripon College Cuddesdon...
, who was appointed in 2001.
Version on show in the Cathedral (west end)
- CeolnothCeolnoth-Biography:Gervase of Canterbury says that Ceolnoth was Dean of the see of Canterbury previous to being elected to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, but this story has no confirmation in contemporary records. Ceolnoth was consecrated archbishop on 27 July 833...
820 - Aegelwyn 830
- Alfric
- Kensyn
- Maurice
- Aelfwyn 930
- Alsine 935
- Aelfwyn II 951
- Athelsine
- Aegelnoth 984
- Egelric 1020
- Goderic 1058
Victoria County History, 1926
- Cuba, occurs 798
- Beornheard, occurs 805
- Heahfrith, occurs 813
- CeolnothCeolnoth-Biography:Gervase of Canterbury says that Ceolnoth was Dean of the see of Canterbury previous to being elected to the archiepiscopal see of Canterbury, but this story has no confirmation in contemporary records. Ceolnoth was consecrated archbishop on 27 July 833...
, resigned 833 - Æthelwine, occurs c. 860
- Eadmund, occurs c.871
- Æthelnoth, resigned 1020
- Godric, occurs 1020, 1023
- Æthelric, resigned 1058
- Ælfric
- Ælfsige
- Ælfwine
- Ælfwine
- Kynsige
- Maurice
Priors of Canterbury
About a century after becoming a monastic foundation late in the 10th century, the Cathedral started to be headed by a priorPrior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
rather than a dean. It would next have a dean after the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
.
Post-Reformation
- Nicholas WottonNicholas WottonNicholas Wotton was an English diplomat-Life:He was a son of Sir Robert Wotton of Boughton Malherbe, Kent, and a descendant of Nicholas Wotton, lord mayor of London in 1415 and 1430, and member of parliament for the city from 1406 to 1429.He early became vicar of Boughton Malherbe and of Sutton...
(1541–1567) (the first Dean, simultaneously Dean of YorkDean of YorkThe Dean of York is the member of the clergy who is responsible for the running of the York Minster cathedral.-11th–12th centuries:* 1093–c.1135: Hugh* c.1138–1143: William of Sainte-Barbe...
) - Thomas GodwinThomas Godwin (bishop)Thomas Godwin was an English bishop, who presided over the Diocese of Bath and Wells.Thomas Godwin was both born and died in Wokingham in Berkshire.From 1567 to 1584 he was Dean of Canterbury....
(1567–1584) - Richard Rogers (1584–1597)
- Thomas NevileThomas NevileThomas Nevile was an English clergyman and academic who was Dean of Peterborough and Dean of Canterbury , Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge , and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge ....
(1597–1615) - Charles Fotherby (1615–1619)
- John BoysJohn Boys (Dean)-Life:He was descended from an old Kentish family who boasted that their ancestor came into England with William the Conqueror, and who at the beginning of the seventeenth century had no less than eight branches, each with its capital mansion, in the county of Kent. The dean was the son of Thomas...
(1619–1625) - Isaac BargraveIsaac BargraveIsaac Bargrave was an English royalist churchman, Dean of Canterbury from 1625 to 1643.-Life:He was the sixth son of Robert Bargrave, of Bridge, Kent, and was educated at Clare Hall, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. and M.A. On 9 July 1611 he was incorporated M.A. of Oxford, and in the October...
(1625–1643) - George AglionbyGeorge AglionbyGeorge Aglionby was an English royalist churchman, nominated in 1643 as Dean of Canterbury. He was a member of the Great Tew intellectual circle around Lucius Cary, and a friend and correspondent of Thomas Hobbes.-Life:...
(1643) - Thomas TurnerThomas Turner (dean)-Life:He was born at Reading, Berkshire in 1591, the son of Thomas Turner of Heckfield in Hampshire, mayor of Reading. He matriculated at St. John's College, Oxford, on 26 June 1610, graduating B.A. on 6 June 1614 and M.A. on 9 May 1618. He was elected a fellow, took the degree of B.D. on 20 July...
(1643–1672) - John TillotsonJohn TillotsonJohn Tillotson was an Archbishop of Canterbury .-Curate and rector:Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend, Sowerby, Yorkshire. He entered as a pensioner of Clare Hall, Cambridge, in 1647, graduated in 1650 and was made fellow of his college in 1651...
(1672–1689) - John Sharp (1689–1691)
- George HooperGeorge HooperGeorge Hooper was a learned and influential high churchman of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He served as bishop of the Welsh diocese, St Asaph, and later for the diocese of Bath and Wells, as well as chaplain to members of the royal family.-Early life:George Hooper was born...
(1691–1704) - George StanhopeGeorge StanhopeGeorge Stanhope was a clergyman of the Church of England, rising to be Dean of Canterbury and a Royal Chaplain...
(1704–1728) - Elias SydallElias SydallElias Sydall was an English bishop of St David's and bishop of Gloucester.-Life:He was the son of a glover of Norwich. He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge in 1688, graduating B.A. in 1692 and M.A. in 1695. He became D.D. in 1705. He was a Fellow of Corpus from 1696 to 1703.He...
(1728–1733) - John LynchJohn Lynch (clergyman)John Lynch was an 18th-century Church of England clergyman. He was Dean of Canterbury from 1734 to 1760.Lynch was born on 5 December 1697 at Staple , son of John Lynch John Lynch (1697—1760) was an 18th-century Church of England clergyman. He was Dean of Canterbury from 1734 to 1760.Lynch was...
(1734–1760) - William FreindWilliam FreindWilliam Freind was an 18th-century Church of England clergyman who was Dean of Canterbury from 1760 to 1766.He was the son of Robert Freind, headmaster of Westminster School and Jane, daughter of Samuel de L'Angle, prebendary of Westminster. The family name was also spelled 'Friend'.He was...
(1760–1766) - John PotterJohn Potter (Dean)John Potter was an 18th-century Church of England clergyman who was Dean of Canterbury from 1766 to 1770.He was the eldest son of John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury ....
(1766–1770) - Brownlow NorthBrownlow NorthBrownlow North was a bishop of the Church of England.-Life:He was a half-brother to Frederick North, Lord North, both being sons of Francis North, 1st Earl of Guilford....
(1770–1771) - John MooreJohn Moore (Archbishop)John Moore was a bishop in the Church of England.-Life:Moore was the son of George Moore, butcher, and his wife Jane.He was born in Gloucester and was educated at the Crypt School there...
(1771–1775) - Hon. James CornwallisJames Cornwallis, 4th Earl CornwallisJames Cornwallis, 4th Earl Cornwallis was a British clergyman and peer.Cornwallis was the third son of Charles Cornwallis, 1st Earl Cornwallis and his wife, Elizabeth...
(1775–1781) - George Horne (1781–1790)
- William BullerWilliam BullerWilliam Buller was Bishop of Exeter from 1792 to 1796.He was born at the Downes, near Crediton, to parents John Francis Buller and Rebecca Trelawney....
(1790–1792) - Folliott CornewallFolliott Herbert Walker Cornewall-Life:He was the second son of Frederick Cornewall of Delbury , captain in the royal navy, by Mary, daughter of Francis Herbert of Ludlow, first cousin of the first Earl of Powis. Charles Cornewall was his granduncle. His brother Frederick was M.P. for Ludlow in 1780. He was educated for the...
(1793–1797) - Thomas PowysThomas PowysThomas Powys was an Anglican clergyman of the later 18th century.He was the son of Philip Powys,of Hardwick House, Oxfordshire. He matriculated at St John's College, Oxford in1753; B.A. in 1757,and M.A. in 1760. He was...
(1797–1809) - Gerard Andrewes (1809–1825)
- Hugh PercyHugh Percy (bishop)Hugh Percy was a British churchman, bishop of Rochester and bishop of Carlisle.-Life:He was the third son of Algernon Percy, 1st Earl of Beverley, by Isabella Susannah, second daughter of Peter Burrell and sister of Peter Burrell, 1st Baron Gwydyr, and was born in London...
(1825–1827) - Richard BagotRichard Bagot (bishop)Richard Bagot was an English cleric.He was a son of William Bagot, 1st Baron Bagot of Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire...
(1827–1845) - William Rowe LyallWilliam Rowe LyallWilliam Rowe Lyall was an English churchman, Dean of Canterbury from 1845 to 1857.-Life:He was born in Stepney, Middlesex, the fifth son of John Lyall and Jane Comyns. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge . In 1817 he married Catherine Brandreth , daughter of Dr. Brandreth of Liverpool...
(1845–1857) - Henry AlfordHenry AlfordHenry Alford was an English churchman, theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist, and writer.-Life:...
(1857–1871) - Robert Payne Smith (1871–1895)
- Frederic William FarrarFrederic William FarrarFrederic William Farrar was a cleric of the Church of England .Farrar was born in Bombay, India and educated at King William's College on the Isle of Man, King's College London and Trinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge he won the Chancellor's Gold Medal for poetry in 1852...
(1895–1903) - Henry Wace (1903–1924)
- George BellGeorge Bell (bishop)George Kennedy Allen Bell was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.-Early career:...
(1924–1929) - Hugh Richard Lawrie SheppardHugh Richard Lawrie SheppardHugh Richard Lawrie "Dick" Sheppard was an English Anglican priest, Dean of Canterbury and pacifist....
(1929–1931) - Hewlett JohnsonHewlett JohnsonThe Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson , was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union and its allies.-Life:Born in Manchester, the third son of Charles Johnson, a wire...
(1931–1963) - Ian White-ThomsonIan White-ThomsonIan Hugh White-Thomson is an Anglican clergyman. Educated at Harrow School where he was a Monitor and in the Football XI. Son of the Bishop of Ely. During the Second World War he was chaplain to William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, and from 1963 to 1976 was Dean of Canterbury...
(1963–1976) - Victor A de WaalVictor A de WaalVictor Alexander de Waal is a British Anglican priest. He was the Dean of Canterbury from 1976 to 1986.Victor de Waal was born in Amsterdam, the son of Hendrik de Waal, a Dutch businessman and Elisabeth, of the Ephrussi family. The family moved to Tunbridge Wells when he was a boy and he was...
(1976–1986) - John Arthur SimpsonJohn Arthur SimpsonJohn Arthur Simpson OBE is a retired Anglican priest.Simpson was educated at Keble College, Oxford and ordained in 1959. After curacies in Leyton and Orpington he was a tutor at Oak Hill Theological College from 1962 to 1972. He was then Vicar of Ridge, Hertfordshire until 1981 when he began his...
(1986–2000) - Robert Willis (2000–present)