George Gardiner (priest)

George Gardiner (1535?–1589) was an English churchman, Dean of Norwich from 1573.

Life

The son of George Gardiner (abt 1509 – abt 1536) and Margaret Neville (abt 1515 – 15 October 1559), was born at

Berwick-on-Tweed in 1537. He was a scholar of Christ's College, Cambridge, where he proceeded B.A. in 1554.^[1] He took the M.A. degree in 1558, having in the meantime become a fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge

, an appointment of which he was deprived on 6 August 1561 for his continued absence from Cambridge.

In December 1560, supported by

the queen to the living of Chatton, Northumberland. In or about 1562 he became a minor canon of Norwich Cathedral, and was appointed minister to the church of St. Andrew in the city. He was promoted to be prebendary in 1565, and in 1570 was one of those who entered the choir of the cathedral and, among other acts, broke down the organ. In the previous year, at a metropolitan visitation, articles had been lodged against him charging him with having been ‘a man very unquiet, troublesome, and dissenting, setting debate between man and man.’ It was also said that in Queen Mary's

time he had persecuted persons supposed to favour the gospel at the universities.

In 1571 Gardiner gave up his Norwich living on being instituted by the

Lord Burghley

, and was nominated dean unconditionally, in spite of his bishop's opposition. Both Leicester and the queen ordered the bishop to desist, and ultimately Parkhurst and Gardiner were on good terms. Gardiner erected a monument to Parkhurst's memory in the cathedral.

In 1573 Gardiner was also appointed chaplain to the queen, and in the following year he was in attendance at court. In the same year he was on a commission of oyer and terminer for the county of Norfolk to examine into offences against the Act of Uniformity. In 1578 he was vicar-general of Norwich, apparently for only a short period. In 1575 he obtained the vicarage of Swaffham by gift of the queen, in 1579 the rectory of Haylesden, in 1580 that of Blofield, in 1583 that of Ashill, and in 1584 that of Forncett, all in Norfolk. He held also the rectory of West Stow, Suffolk.

Gardiner had duties too in London, and in February 1587 a formal complaint was made against him, among others, for neglecting to preach at

Sir Thomas Shirley

and others, on various pretexts. Gardiner, by dint of his influence at court and many lawsuits, finally, in 1588, obtained a royal warrant ordering the patentees to surrender the church lands, for some compensation.

In the later years of his life Gardiner was much invalided by gout. He died about June 1589, and was buried in the south aisle of his cathedral, where was his tomb, with a Latin inscription. A number of his letter are printed in John Strype's Annals.

Gardiner was married to Dorothy Constable (abt 1536 - abt 1589) around the year 1564. He had at least two children with her:

Sir Thomas Gardiner (abt 1565 - abt 1635) who married Elizabeth White and had issue.

Lionel Gardiner (abt 1573 - abt 1610) who married Elizabeth Woodhouse and had issue.

References

"Gardiner, George" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Notes

^ "Gardiner, George (GRDR552G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Gardiner, George". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

[1] "Gardiner, George (GRDR552G)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[1]

v t e Deans of Norwich
Early modern	William Castleton John Salisbury John Christopherson John Boxall John Harpsfield John Salisbury George Gardiner Thomas Dove John Jegon George Montgomery Edmund Suckling John Hassal John Crofts Herbert Astley John Sharp Henry Fairfax Humphrey Prideaux Thomas Cole Robert Butts John Baron Thomas Bullock Edward Townshend Philip Lloyd
Late modern	Joseph Turner George Pellew Meyrick Goulburn William Lefroy Henry Wakefield Henry Beeching John Willink David Cranage Herbert St Barbe Holland Norman Hook Alan Webster David Edwards Paul Burbridge Stephen Platten Graham Smith Jane Hedges Andrew Braddock