John Sterne (bishop of Dromore)

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John Sterne (1660–1745) was an Irish Church of Ireland clergyman,[1] bishop of Dromore from 1713[2] and then bishop of Clogher from 1717.[2]

John Sterne

Life

The only son of

Trinity College, Dublin, on 2 April 1674, his tutor being Philip Barbour.[5] He graduated B.A. 11 February 1677, M.A. 12 July 1681, and D.D. in July 1705.[6]

Having been ordained deacon in October 1682 by Anthony Dopping, bishop of Meath, Sterne served for a time as his domestic chaplain. About 1688 he was made vicar of Trim, County Meath; in October 1692 he was instituted to the rectory of Clonmacduffe, and in June 1703 to that of Killary, both in the diocese of Meath. On 11 September 1702, he was installed chancellor in St Patrick's Cathedral. On the death of his mother's kinsman Jerome Ryves, Sterne was elected dean of St. Patrick's, by the chapter, with the support of Jonathan Swift, then prebendary of Dunlavin (Sterne, however, retained with the deanery the curacy of St. Nicholas Without, which Swift claimed had been promised to him). In July 1707 Sterne was instrumental in the election of Swift to represent the chapter in Convocation. Soon afterwards he joined a small social club to which belonged Swift, Stella, and their common friends, the Walls and the Stoytes, who met on Saturdays for cards and other diversions. Swift's letters during this period are full of allusions to Sterne.[6]

When a vacancy occurred in the diocese of Dromore, Swift named Sterne to

St. George Ashe to Derry, he was translated to Clogher.[9] There, as at Dublin and Dromore, he was famed for hospitality, as Jonathan Smedley noted.[6]

In 1721 Sterne was appointed vice-chancellor of Trinity College, to which in 1726 he presented a sum of £1,000 for a university printing house. In 1732 Sterne endorsed two bills: one for subdividing large preferments, the other for enforcing residence. Nothing came of them, but Swift wrote a devastating letter, dated July 1733.[6]

Sterne died at Clogher, unmarried, on 6 June 1745.[6]

Legacy

By his will, dated 13 May 1741, Sterne endowed a large number of local charities, especially

Clogher Cathedral. He left £50 per annum in exhibition to Trinity College, Dublin, poor scholars of the diocese of Clogher to have the preference.[6]

The rarer books in his library he gave to Marsh's Library in Dublin.[10] The remainder were distributed by lot among the poor curates of the diocese. His manuscripts, of which he had a significant collection, he bequeathed to Trinity College, Dublin; among them are the depositions of the sufferers in the Irish Rebellion of 1641.[6]

Works

Sterne's major work was Tractatus de Visitatione Infirmorum (Dublin, 1697; London, 1700, several editions). It was translated in 1840 as The Curate's Manual (London). The Tractatus was reprinted in the Clergyman's Instructor of 1807 and 1813; then in the 1843 edition it was replaced by Bishop Thomas Wilson's Parochialia.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ "History of the Church of Ireland, from the Reformation to the Revolution" Mant,R. p782: London, J.W. Parker, 1840
  2. ^ a b Cotton, Henry (1849). Fasti ecclesiæ hibernicæ: the succession of the prelates and ..., Volume 3 By Henry Cotton. p. 180/1 283. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. ^ Clogher clergy and parishes: being an account of the clergy of the Church of Ireland in the Diocese of Clogher, from the earliest period, with historical notices of the several parishes, churches, etc" Leslie, J.B. p 16/17: Enniskille; R. H. Ritchie; 1929
  4. ^ Library Ireland
  5. ^ "Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860)" Burtchaell, George Dames/Sadleir, Thomas Ulick (Eds) p777: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Lee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Sterne, John (1660-1745)" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  7. ^ Atkinson, E. D. 'Dromore - An Ulster Diocese', pp33/4 Dundalk, W.Tempest, 1925
  8. .
  9. ^ Diocese of Clogher web-site
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainLee, Sidney, ed. (1898). "Sterne, John (1660-1745)". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. London: Smith, Elder & Co.