Edward Wetenhall
Encyclopedia
Edward Wetenhall was an English bishop of the Church of Ireland
. His name is also spelled Wettenhall, Whetenhall, Whitnall, Withnoll, and Wythnall.
on 7 October 1636. Educated at Westminster School
under Richard Busby
, he was admitted king's scholar in 1651, and went to Trinity College, Cambridge
, as a foundation scholar. After graduating B.A. 1659–60, he migrated (1660) to Lincoln College, Oxford
, of which he became chaplain, was incorporated B.A. 18 June, and graduated M.A. 10 July 1661.
He held the perpetual curacy of Combe Long, Oxfordshire, and the vicarage of St. Stephen's, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire
; on 11 June 1667 he was collated to a prebend at Exeter, holding with it the mastership of the blue-coat school. He graduated B.D. at Oxford 26 May 1669, and was incorporated B.D. at Cambridge 1670. Michael Boyle the younger, then archbishop of Dublin, brought him over to Dublin in 1672, as master of the blue-coat school. He was made D.D. at Trinity College, Dublin
, became curate of St. Werburgh's Church
, and afterwards chantor of Christ Church. On the death (22 December 1678) of Edward Synge
, bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, the sees were separated, and Wetenhall was made (14 February 1679) bishop of Cork and Ross
, being consecrated 23 March 1679 in Christ Church, Dublin.
At his own cost he restored the episcopal residence at Cork. As one of the seven bishops who remained in Ireland during the troubles which began in 1688, he was exposed to much ill-usage at the hands of the partisans of James II. He was probably the author of an anonymous tract ‘The Case of the Irish Protestants in relation to … Allegiance to … King William and Queen Mary,’ 1691 (27 October 1690). He signed the episcopal letter of thanks (November 1692) to Thomas Firmin
for his exertions in relief of the distressed Protestants of Ireland. Only one Irish prelate, William Sheridan (died 1716) of Kilmore and Ardagh, was deprived (1691) as a nonjuror
. Wetenhall, who was translated as bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh
on 18 April 1699, would not accept the preferment without trying to procure the restoration of Sheridan, to whose support he contributed. He restored the episcopal residence at Kilmore and rebuilt the cathedral at Ardagh (later demolished). He recovered lands belonging to the see, alienated by William Smith (d. 1698), his predecessor, but also sold a valuable wood of the see.
A moderate on concessions to Dissenters, which he had advocated from 1682, he was prepared to go further than the English Toleration Act
. He intervened as a peacemaker in the controversy on the doctrine of the Trinity raised by the publications of William Sherlock
and John Wallis. In ‘An Earnest and Compassionate Suit for Forbearance … by a Melancholy Stander-by,’ 1691, he commends Richard Hooker
's ‘explication of this mystery,’ and argues that further discussion is futile and damaging. He followed it up with ‘The Antapology of the Melancholy Stander-by,’ 1693. Against William Penn
he wrote a couple of pamphlets (1698–9). He was present (but not on the bench) at the trial (14 June 1703) in Dublin of Thomas Emlyn
the unitarian, and subsequently paid friendly visits to him in prison. In 1710 he drew up a memorial to James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
, the lord lieutenant, urging the need of providing ‘books of religion’ in the Irish language, in accordance with the ideas of John Richardson, D.D. (1664–1747), a clergyman in his diocese.
His later years were spent in London, where he died on 12 November 1713; he was buried on 18 November in the south transept of Westminster Abbey
, where there is an inscribed gravestone to his memory. In his will he affirms the church of England and Ireland to be ‘the purest church in the world,’ though ‘there are divers points which might be altered for the better’ in ‘articles, liturgy, and discipline, but especially in the conditions of clerical communion.’
His revision of the Eton Latin Grammar was reprinted in 1856. His ‘Græcæ Grammatices Institutio,’ 4th edit. 1713, 8vo, was translated and revised by George Newenham Wright
(2nd ed. 1820), and edited as ‘Græcæ Grammatices Rudimenta,’ by G. B. Wheeler, 1853. In 1692 he edited sermons by Ezekiel Hopkins
.
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
. His name is also spelled Wettenhall, Whetenhall, Whitnall, Withnoll, and Wythnall.
Life
He was born at LichfieldLichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
on 7 October 1636. Educated at Westminster School
Westminster School
The Royal College of St. Peter in Westminster, almost always known as Westminster School, is one of Britain's leading independent schools, with the highest Oxford and Cambridge acceptance rate of any secondary school or college in Britain...
under Richard Busby
Richard Busby
The Rev. Dr. Richard Busby was an English Anglican priest who served as head master of Westminster School for more than fifty-five years.-Life:...
, he was admitted king's scholar in 1651, and went to Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
, as a foundation scholar. After graduating B.A. 1659–60, he migrated (1660) to Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is situated on Turl Street in central Oxford, backing onto Brasenose College and adjacent to Exeter College...
, of which he became chaplain, was incorporated B.A. 18 June, and graduated M.A. 10 July 1661.
He held the perpetual curacy of Combe Long, Oxfordshire, and the vicarage of St. Stephen's, near St. Albans, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
; on 11 June 1667 he was collated to a prebend at Exeter, holding with it the mastership of the blue-coat school. He graduated B.D. at Oxford 26 May 1669, and was incorporated B.D. at Cambridge 1670. Michael Boyle the younger, then archbishop of Dublin, brought him over to Dublin in 1672, as master of the blue-coat school. He was made D.D. at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, became curate of St. Werburgh's Church
St Werburgh's Church, Dublin
St. Werburgh's Church is a Church of Ireland church in Dublin, Ireland, and was built in 1178, shortly after the arrival of the Anglo-Normans in the town, and named after St. Werburgh, abbess of Ely and patron saint of Chester who died in 699 CE. It is located in Werburgh Street, close to Dublin...
, and afterwards chantor of Christ Church. On the death (22 December 1678) of Edward Synge
Edward Synge
Edward Synge of Shropshire origins was appointed at the Restoration bishop of Limerick, Ardfert and Aghadoe and was subsequently translated becoming bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross...
, bishop of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross, the sees were separated, and Wetenhall was made (14 February 1679) bishop of Cork and Ross
Bishop of Cork and Ross
The Bishop of Cork and Ross is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Cork and the town of Rosscarbery in Ireland. The title was first used by the Church of Ireland from 1638 to 1660 and again from 1679 to 1835...
, being consecrated 23 March 1679 in Christ Church, Dublin.
At his own cost he restored the episcopal residence at Cork. As one of the seven bishops who remained in Ireland during the troubles which began in 1688, he was exposed to much ill-usage at the hands of the partisans of James II. He was probably the author of an anonymous tract ‘The Case of the Irish Protestants in relation to … Allegiance to … King William and Queen Mary,’ 1691 (27 October 1690). He signed the episcopal letter of thanks (November 1692) to Thomas Firmin
Thomas Firmin
Thomas Firmin was an English businessman and philanthropist, and Unitarian publisher.-Early life:Firmin was born to Puritan parents, Henry and Prudence Firmin in Ipswich. Henry Firmin was a parishioner of Samuel Ward, the Puritan incumbent of St. Mary-le-Tower, by whom in 1635 he was accused of...
for his exertions in relief of the distressed Protestants of Ireland. Only one Irish prelate, William Sheridan (died 1716) of Kilmore and Ardagh, was deprived (1691) as a nonjuror
Nonjuring schism
The nonjuring schism was a split in the Church of England in the aftermath of the Glorious Revolution of 1688, over whether William of Orange and his wife Mary could legally be recognised as King and Queen of England....
. Wetenhall, who was translated as bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh
Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh
The Bishop of Kilmore and Ardagh was the Ordinary of the Church of Ireland diocese of Kilmore and Ardagh in the Province of Armagh. The Diocese of Kilmore comprised most of County Cavan and parts of counties Leitrim, Fermanagh, Meath and Sligo...
on 18 April 1699, would not accept the preferment without trying to procure the restoration of Sheridan, to whose support he contributed. He restored the episcopal residence at Kilmore and rebuilt the cathedral at Ardagh (later demolished). He recovered lands belonging to the see, alienated by William Smith (d. 1698), his predecessor, but also sold a valuable wood of the see.
A moderate on concessions to Dissenters, which he had advocated from 1682, he was prepared to go further than the English Toleration Act
Toleration Act
Toleration Act may refer to:* Act of Toleration 1689, in England* Maryland Toleration Act, of 1649...
. He intervened as a peacemaker in the controversy on the doctrine of the Trinity raised by the publications of William Sherlock
William Sherlock
Not to be confused with William Sherlock William Sherlock was an English church leader.-Life:He was born at Southwark, and was educated at St. Saviour's School and Eton, and then at Peterhouse, Cambridge. In 1669 he became rector of St George's, Botolph Lane, London, and in 1681 he was appointed a...
and John Wallis. In ‘An Earnest and Compassionate Suit for Forbearance … by a Melancholy Stander-by,’ 1691, he commends Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker
Richard Hooker was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian. Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and the value of tradition came to exert a lasting influence on the development of the Church of England...
's ‘explication of this mystery,’ and argues that further discussion is futile and damaging. He followed it up with ‘The Antapology of the Melancholy Stander-by,’ 1693. Against William Penn
William Penn
William Penn was an English real estate entrepreneur, philosopher, and founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, the English North American colony and the future Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was an early champion of democracy and religious freedom, notable for his good relations and successful...
he wrote a couple of pamphlets (1698–9). He was present (but not on the bench) at the trial (14 June 1703) in Dublin of Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn
Thomas Emlyn , English nonconformist divine.-Life:Emlyn was born at Stamford, Lincolnshire and served as chaplain to the presbyterian Letitia, countess of Donegal, and then to Sir Robert Rich, afterwards becoming colleague to Joseph Boyse, presbyterian minister in Dublin...
the unitarian, and subsequently paid friendly visits to him in prison. In 1710 he drew up a memorial to James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde
James Butler, 2nd Duke of Ormonde KG KT was an Irish statesman and soldier. He was the third of the Kilcash branch of the family to inherit the earldom of Ormonde...
, the lord lieutenant, urging the need of providing ‘books of religion’ in the Irish language, in accordance with the ideas of John Richardson, D.D. (1664–1747), a clergyman in his diocese.
His later years were spent in London, where he died on 12 November 1713; he was buried on 18 November in the south transept of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
, where there is an inscribed gravestone to his memory. In his will he affirms the church of England and Ireland to be ‘the purest church in the world,’ though ‘there are divers points which might be altered for the better’ in ‘articles, liturgy, and discipline, but especially in the conditions of clerical communion.’
Works
Besides the above and single sermons, a charge (1691) and tracts, including the funeral sermon for James Bonnell, he published:- ‘Enter into Thy Closet: A Method … for Private Devotion,’ 1666.
- ‘The Wish: being the Tenth Satyr of Juvenal … in Pindarick Verse,’ Dublin, 1675.
- ‘The Catechism of the Church of England, with Marginal Notes,’ 1678.
- ‘Of Gifts and Offices in … Worship,’ Dublin, 1676–9.
- ‘The Protestant Peacemaker,’ 1682, (answered by Richard BaxterRichard BaxterRichard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...
in ‘History of Councils,’ 1682). - ‘A Judgment of the Comet … at Dublin, Dec. 13, 1680,’ 1682.
- ‘Hexapla Jacobæa: a Specimen of Loyalty to … James II, in Six Pieces,’ Dublin, 1686, (sermons).
- ‘A Plain Discourse proving the … Authority of the … Scriptures,’ 1688, (with new title, 1689).
- ‘A Letter … occasioned by the Surrender of Mons,’ 1691, (anon.).
- ‘A Method … to be … prepared for Death,’ 1694.
- ‘The Testimony of the Bishop of Cork as to a Paper intituled Gospel Truths … by the People called Quakers,’ Cork, 1698.
- ‘A brief … Reply to Mr. Penn's … Defence,’ Cork, 1699.
- ‘Due Frequency of the Lord's Supper,’ 1703.
- ‘A View of our Lord's Passion, with Meditations,’ 1710.
His revision of the Eton Latin Grammar was reprinted in 1856. His ‘Græcæ Grammatices Institutio,’ 4th edit. 1713, 8vo, was translated and revised by George Newenham Wright
George Newenham Wright
George Newenham Wright, , was an Irish writer and Anglican clergyman. He was born in Dublin; his father, John Thomas was a doctor. He graduated B.A. from Trinity College in 1814 and M.A. in 1817...
(2nd ed. 1820), and edited as ‘Græcæ Grammatices Rudimenta,’ by G. B. Wheeler, 1853. In 1692 he edited sermons by Ezekiel Hopkins
Ezekiel Hopkins
Ezekiel Hopkins was an Anglican divine in the Church of Ireland, who was Bishop of Derry from 1681 to 1690.-Life:He was born in Devon, and was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a chorister from 1648 to 1653, and graduated B.A. in 1655 and M.A. in 1656...
.