Life

He was born at Whalley, Lancashire

Whalley, Lancashire

Whalley is a large village in the Ribble Valley on the banks of the River Calder in Lancashire, England. It is overlooked by Whalley Nab, a large picturesque wooded hill over the river from the village....

 about 1535, the son of John Woolton of Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

, by his wife Isabella, daughter of John Nowell of Bead Hall, Whalley, and sister of Alexander Nowell

Alexander Nowell

Alexander Nowell was an English Puritan theologian and clergyman, who served as dean of St Paul's during much of Elizabeth I's reign.-Biography:...

 He was admitted student of Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...

, on 26 October 1553, when aged about 18, and supplicated for the degree of B.A. on 26 April 1555, Soon afterwards he left with Nowell, his uncle, for Germany, and remained abroad until the accession of Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

. Edmund Grindal

Edmund Grindal

Edmund Grindal was an English church leader who successively held the posts of Bishop of London, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I of England.-Early life to the death of Edward VI:...

, bishop of London

Bishop of London

The Bishop of London is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers 458 km² of 17 boroughs of Greater London north of the River Thames and a small part of the County of Surrey...

, ordained him as deacon

Deacon

Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...

 on 25 April 1560, and he proceeded priest on 4 June 1560.

Woolton found patrons in William Alley

William Alley

William Alley was an Anglican prelate and the Bishop of Exeter during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.- Life :...

, bishop of Exeter, and Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford, KG was an English nobleman, soldier and politician and godfather to Sir. Francis Drake.-Early life:...

. He was appointed to the rectory of Sampford Peverell

Sampford Peverell

Sampford Peverell is a village in Mid-Devon, England. Its name reflects its inclusion in the Honour of Peverel, the lands of William Peverel and his family...

 (16 August 1561), to the rectory of Whimple

Whimple

Whimple is a village and civil parish in East Devon in the English county of Devon, approximately due east of the city of Exeter, and from the nearest small town, Ottery St Mary. It has a population of 1,642...

, the vicarage of Braunton

Braunton

Braunton is situated west of Barnstaple, Devon, England and is claimed to be the largest village in England, with a population in 2001 of 7,510. It is home to the nearby Braunton Great Field and Braunton Burrows, a National Nature and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve....

 (4 May 1570), and to the rectory of Kenn

Kenn, Devon

Kenn is a village situated in Devon, England, several miles to the south of Exeter, in one of the country's main tourist areas.It has a popular pub and a Parish Church, built of Heavitree stone....

 (15 October 1573), all in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. A canonry at Exeter

Exeter

Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...

 was conferred on him in March 1565; he read a divinity lecture there twice a week and preached twice every Sunday, and during the plague in the city during the summer of 1570 he attended the sick.

By the new charter, dated 28 July 1578, Woolton, probably through his uncle's influence, was constituted the first warden of the collegiate church of Manchester. On 11 October in that year Bridget, Countess of Bedford, recommended him to Lord Burghley as a fitting person to fill the vacant bishopric of Exeter. He was duly appointed to the see, supplicated for the degrees of B.D. and D.D. at Oxford on 26 May 1579, and was consecrated in the archiepiscopal chapel at Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

 on 2 August 1579. As the bishopric had become of small value, Woolton was allowed to hold with it the place of archpriest

Archpriest

An archpriest is a priest with supervisory duties over a number of parishes. The term is most often used in Eastern Orthodoxy and Eastern Catholic Churches, although it may be used in the Latin rite of the Roman Catholic Church instead of dean or vicar forane.In the 16th and 17th centuries, during...

 at Haccombe in Devon (20 October 1581) and the rectory of Lezant

Lezant

Lezant is a civil parish and village in east Cornwall, United Kingdom. Lezant village is situated approximately five miles south of Launceston. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 751.-Geography:...

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 (1584).

Woolton remodelled the statutes at Exeter Cathedral

Exeter Cathedral

Exeter Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter at Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon in South West England....

. In 1581 he deprived Anthony Randal, parson of Lydford

Lydford

Lydford, sometimes spelled Lidford, is a village, once an important town, in Devon situated north of Tavistock on the western fringe of Dartmoor in the West Devon district.-Description:The village has a population of 458....

, a follower of the Family of Love

Family of Love

Family of Love may refer to* Familists, a mystic religious community in renaissance England and the Low Countries* Children of God, a new religious movement, which later used the names Family of Love and as of 2006, Family International...

, and made others who had accepted the Family's doctrines recant in the cathedral. Many strong accusations, some amounting to fraudulent misgovernment, were made against his running of the diocese to the archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

 in 1585. His answers to the charges were satisfactory, though he was obliged to admit his comparative poverty, and that he had placed his son in jail. His death took place at the palace, Exeter, on 13 March 1594, and he was buried in the cathedral on the south side of the choir on 20 March.

Works

Woolton was author of the following theological treatises:

• 'An Armour of Proofs,' 1576.
• 'A Treatise of the Immortalitie of the Soule,' 1578.
• 'The Christian Manuell,' 1576; reprinted hy the Parker Society, 1851.
• 'The Castell of Christians and Fortresse of the Faithfull,' n.d. [1577]: the dedication is to Francis Walsingham
  Francis Walsingham
  Sir Francis Walsingham was Principal Secretary to Elizabeth I of England from 1573 until 1590, and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster". Walsingham is frequently cited as one of the earliest practitioners of modern intelligence methods both for espionage and for domestic security...
  
  .
• 'A new Anatomie of the whole Man,' 1576.
• 'Of the Conscience: a Discourse,' 1570.
• 'David's Chain'.

Family

The bishop was married and had a large family. His eldest son, John Woolton, M.A., a fellow of All Souls' College, Oxford, placed a monumental inscription to his father's memory in the cathedral; he retired from practice at Exeter to the estate of Pilland in the parish of Pilton

Pilton

Pilton may refer to:* East Pilton* Pilton, Devon* Pilton, Edinburgh* Pilton, Northamptonshire* Pilton, Queensland* Pilton, Rutland* Pilton, Somerset* West Pilton...

, North Devon, which his father had purchased. Francis Godwin

Francis Godwin

Francis Godwin was an English divine, Bishop of Llandaff and of Hereford.-Life:He was the son of Thomas Godwin, Bishop of Bath and Wells, born at Hannington, Northamptonshire...

married a daughter.