Bishop of Lichfield
The Bishop of Lichfield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury.
The diocese covers 4,516 km² (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West Midlands. The see is in the town of Lichfield where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad.
The diocese of Mercia was founded 656 by Diuma. Subsequently becoming the Diocese of Lichfield, it became linked variously with the dioceses of Coventry and Chester. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Jonathan Gledhill, the 98th Lord Bishop of Lichfield, who signs Jonathan Lichfield.
List of the Bishops of the Diocese of Lichfield, England and its precursor offices
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
| Tenure | Incumbent | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Diocese of Mercia | ||
| 656 to 658 | Diuma (Dwyna; Duma) | |
| 658 to 659 | Ceollach (Cellach) | A Scot, he resigned and returned to Scotland |
| 659 to 663 | Thumere (Trumhere) | Abbot of Ingethling |
| 663 to 669 | Jaruman | |
| Diocese of Lichfield | ||
| 669 to 673 | Ceadda | Translated to York; Saint Chad |
| 673 to 675 | Winfred (Winfride) | Deprived by Theodore, Archbishop of York |
| 675 to 691 | Sexwulf (Saxulf; Sexulf) | Abbot of Medeshamstede (Peterborough); Saint Sexwulf |
| 691 to 721 | Headdi (Headda; Eatheadus of Sidnacester) | |
| 721 to 737 | Aldwini (Aldwyn) | |
| 737 to 752 | Witta (Huitta) | |
| 752 to 765 | Hemele (Hemel) | |
| 765 to 768 | Cuthred (Cuthfrid) | Died in office |
| 768 to 785 | Berhthun | Died in office |
| 785 to 786 | Higbert (Sigbert) | |
| 786 to 799 | Archbishop Adulf (Adulphus) | Created Archbishop by Offa |
| 799 to ??? | Adulf (Adulphus) | Title of Archbishop laid aside |
| ??? to ??? | Humbert | |
| 812 to 834 | Herewin | |
| 834 to 837 | Higbert (Sigbert) | |
| 837 to 845 | Æthelwald (Ethelwold) | |
| 845 to 864 | Hunberght (Humbert II) | |
| 864 to 872 | Kinebert (Kenferth) | |
| 872 to 898 | Cumbert (Cumbert; Cineferth) | Saint Cumbert |
| 898 to 901 (or 928) | Tunbriht (Tunberht; Tunbright; Tunfrith; Tumfriht) | |
| ?901 to 928 | Wigmund | Omitted from Haydn's |
| 928 to 944 | Ella | |
| 944 to 953 | Ælfgar | |
| 953 to 954 | Kynsy (Kinsey; Kinsius) | |
| 964 to 977 | Wynsy (Winsey; Winsius) | |
| 977 to 990 | Elphege | |
| 990 to 1007 | Godwin | |
| 1007 to 1027 | Leofgar (Leosgar) | |
| 1027 to 1038 | Brihtmar (Brithmar) | |
| 1038 to 1054 | Wulsy (Wolfius) | |
| 1054 to 1067 | Leofwin | Abbot of Coventry |
| 1067 to 1075 | Peter | Removed see to Chester |
| See at Chester | ||
| 1075 to 1085 | Peter | |
| 1086 to 1102 | Robert de Limesey | Prebendary of St Paul's; removed See to Coventry |
| See at Coventry | ||
| 1102 to 1113 | Robert de Limesey | Died in office |
| 1117 to 1121 | vacant | For 4 years |
| Diocese of Coventry and Lichfield | ||
| 1121 to 1127 | Robert Peche (Robert Pecham) | Chaplain to King Henry I; died in office |
| 1127 to 1129 | vacant | For 2 years |
| 1129 | Roger de Clinton, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry | |
| 1149 to 1161 | Walter Durdent | |
| 1161 to 1181 | Richard Peche | |
| 1181 to 1183 | vacant | |
| 1183 to 1184 | Gerard la Pucelle | |
| 1184 to 1188 | vacant | |
| 1188 to 1198 | Hugh Nonant | |
| 1198 to 1208 | Geofrey de Muschamp | |
| 1208 to 1215 | vacant | |
| 1215 to 1224 | William de Cornhill | |
| 1224 to 1239 | Alexander de Stavenby | |
| 1239 | William de Rule (William de Raleigh) | Elected by both the chapter of Coventry and that of Lichfield but being also elected Norwich he accepted that office |
| 1239 | William de Manchestre | Dean of Lichfield; elected by the Chapter of Lichfield but did not take office |
| 1239 | Nicholas de Farnham | Elected by the Chapter of Coventry but did not take office |
| 1239 to December 1241 | Hugh de Pateshull | Lord Treasured; accepted after much controversy between the two chapters and at the king's request; confirmed 25 December 1239; died in office |
| December 1241 to 1245 | vacant | |
|   December 1241 to 8 December 1241 | Richard Crassus | Elected but died before consecration |
|   1243 | Robert de Monte Pessulano | Elected but refused the appointment, finding the election disagreeable to the king |
| 1245 to 1258 | Roger Weseham | Dean of Lincoln; appointed by the pope |
| 1258 to 1296 | Roger de Meyland (Roger de Longespée; Roger de Molend) | |
| 1296 to 1322 | Walter de Langton | Lord Treasurer and Lord Chancellor |
| 1322 to 1360 | Roger Northburgh (Roger de Northbrugh) | Archdeacon of Richmond and Lord Keeper and Lord Treasurer |
| 1360 to 1386 | Robert Stratton | Canon of Lichfield |
| 1386 to 1386 | Walter Skirlaw | Dean of St Martin's; translated to Bath & Wells |
| 1386 to 1398 | Richard Scroope (Richard Scrope) | Translated to York |
| 1398 to 1415 | John de Burghill (John Burghill) | Translated from Llandaff |
| 1415 to 1419 | John Catterick (John Keterich) | Translated from St David's; translated to Exeter |
| 1419 to 1419 | James Cary | Translated to Exeter but died before taking office thereof |
| 20 November 1419 to 13 March 1447 | William Heyworth | |
| 1447 to 1452 | William Booth | Prebendary of St Paul's, London; translated to York |
| 1452 to 1453 | Nicholas Close | Translated from Carlisle; Chancellor of Cambridge |
| 1453 to 1459 | Reginald Bolars (Reginald Butler) | Translated from Hereford |
| 1459 to 1492 | John Hales (John Halse) | Prebendary of St Paul's, London |
| 1492 to 1496 | William Smith | Archdeacon of Surrey; translated to Lincoln |
| 1496 to 1503 | John Arundel | Dean of Exeter; translated to Exeter |
| 1503 to 1524 | Godfrey Blyth (Geoffry Blyth) | Dean of York |
| 1524 to 1539 | Roland Lee (Rowland Lee) | Chancellor and Prebendary of Lichfield and Lord President of Wales |
| Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry | ||
| 1539 to 1543 | Roland Lee (Rowland Lee) | |
| 1543 to 1554 | Richard Sampson | Elected schismatically; translated from Chichester; Lord President of Wales |
| 1554 to 1559 | Ralph Bayne (Ralph Baines) | Deprived and died soon after |
| 1560 to 1580 | Thomas Bentham | Fellow of Magdalene College, Oxford |
| 1580 to 1609 | William Overton | Prebendary of Winchester and Salisbury |
| 1609 to 1610 | George Abbot | Dean of Winchester; translated to London |
| 1610 to 1614 | Richard Neile (Richard Neale) | Translated to Rochester |
| 1614 to 1619 | John Overal | Dean of St Paul's, London; translated to Norwich |
| 1619 to 1632 | Thomas Moreton | Translated from Chester; translated to Durham |
| 1632 to 1643 | Robert Wright | Translated from Bristol |
| 1643 to 1661 | Accepted Frewen | Dean of Gloucester; translated to York |
| 1661 to 1671 | John Hacket | Canon-resident of St Paul's, London |
| 1671 to 1692 | Thomas Wood | Dean of Lichfield |
| 1692 to 1699 | William Lloyd | Translated from St Asaph; translated to Worcester |
| 1699 to 1717 | John Hough | Translated from Oxford; translated to Worcester |
| 1717 to 1730 | Edward Chandler | Prebendary of Worcester; translated to Durham |
| 1730 to 1749 | Richard Smalbroke | Translated from St David's |
| 1749 to 1768 | The Honourable Frederick Cornwallis | Canon of Windsor; Dean of St Paul's, London (1766); translated to Canterbury |
| 1768 to 1771 | The Honourable John Egerton | Translated from Bangor; translated to Durham |
| 1771 to 1774 | Brownlow North | Dean of Canterbury; translated to Worcester |
| 1774 to 1781 | Richard Hurd | Master of the Temple; translated to Worcester |
| 1781 to 1823 | The Honourable James Cornwallis | Dean of Canterbury; becoming the Earl of Cornwallis |
| 1823 to 1824 | The Honourable James Cornwallis, the Earl of Cornwallis | Died in office |
| 4 February 1824 to 31 March 1836 | The Honourable Henry Ryder | Translated from Gloucester; died in office |
| 15 June 1836 to 24 January 1837 | Samuel Butler | Becoming Bishop of Lichfield |
| Diocese of Lichfield | ||
| 24 January 1837 to 4 December 1839 | Samuel Butler | Died in office |
| 30 December 1839 to 11 October 1843 | James Bowstead | Translated from Sodor & Man |
| 6 November 1843 to 19 October 1867 | John Lonsdale | Archdeacon of Middlesex and Principal of King's College, London; died in office |
| 13 December 1867 to 11 April 1878 | George Augustus Selwyn | Translated from New Zealand; died in office |
| 13 May 1878 to ???? | William Dalrymple Maclagan, DD | Vicar of St Mary Abbot, Kensington |
| ???? to 1953 | ||
| 1953 to 1975 | Arthur Stretton Reeve, DD | |
| 1975 to 1984 | Kenneth John Fraser Skelton, CBE, MA | Bishop of Matabeleland; Rector of Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland; retired |
| 1984 to 2003 | Keith Norman Sutton | |
| 2003 to present | Jonathan Glendhill | |
| Anglican Hierarchy in Great Britain | ||
| The Church of England | ||
| Provinces | Dioceses | |
| Canterbury | Bath & Wells | Birmingham | Bristol | Saint Edmundsbury & Ipswich | Chelmsford | Chichester | Coventry | Derby | Ely | Exeter | Gibraltar in Europe | Gloucester | Guildford | Hereford | Leicester | Lichfield | Lincoln | London | Norwich | Oxford | Peterborough | Portsmouth | Rochester | Saint Albans | Salisbury | Southwark | Truro | Winchester | Worcester | |
| York | Blackburn | Bradford | Carlisle | Chester | Durham | Liverpool | Manchester | Newcastle | Ripon and Leeds | Sheffield | Sodor & Man | Southwell | Wakefield | |
| The Church in Wales | ||
| Wales | Bangor | Llandaff | Monmouth | Saint Asaph | Saint David's | Swansea & Brecon | |
| The Scottish Episcopal Church | ||
| Primus | Aberdeen and Orkney | Argyll & the Isles | Brechin | Edinburgh | Glasgow & Galloway | Moray, Ross & Caithness | Saint Andrews, Dunkeld & Dunblane | |
| edit this box | ||
Sources
- Haydn's Book of Dignities (1894) Joseph Haydn/Horace Ockerby, reprinted 1969
- Whitaker's Almanack 1883 to 2004 Joseph Whittaker & Sons/A&C Black, London
See also
Categories: Staffordshire | Lichfield | Bishops