Thomas Winniffe
Thomas Winniffe (1576โ1654) was an English churchman, the Bishop of Lincoln from 1642 to 1646.
Early life
He was born and baptised at Sherborne, Dorset, in 1576, the son of John Winniffe (1540?-1630), who was buried on 28 September 1630 in Lambourne church, Essex. He was educated at Sherborne[1] and matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford, on 22 Feb. 1594, and elected fellow in 1595; he graduated B.A. on 12 July 1598, M.A. on 17 May 1601, B.D. on 27 March 1610, and D.D. on 5 July 1610. In August 1605 he was one of those who disputed in moral philosophy before James I, his queen Anne of Denmark, and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales on the occasion of their visit to Oxford.[2]
Ministry
On 5 May 1608 he was admitted to the rectory of Willingale Doe, Essex, and on 15 June following to that of Lambourne in the same county, and on 30 June 1609 he resigned his fellowship at Exeter, having livings above the statutable value.[2]
After Prince Henry's death Winniffe became chaplain to
Episcopate
When Bishop John Williams was promoted from Bishop of Lincoln to Archbishop of York on 4 December 1641, Winniffe was selected to succeed him. Although the King supposedly thereby intended to gratify parliament (on the ground of Winniffe's supposed Puritan tendencies), on 30 December Francis Rous moved in the House of Commons for the postponement of Winniffe's consecration. A mob also destroyed Winniffe's house in Westminster, although its leader, Sir Richard Wiseman, was killed. Nonetheless, Winniffe was elected on 5 January 1642, and consecrated on 6 February; he retained the deanery of St Paul's, but resigned his livings in Essex.[2]
The outbreak of the
Death and legacy
Winniffe died at Lambourne on 29 September 1654, and was buried within the altar-rails of the church. He was unmarried, and gave the advowson of Lambourne, which he had purchased, to his nephew, Peter Mews. His episcopate at Lincoln remained vacant for six years, until the election of Robert Sanderson in 1660.[2]
References
- ^ "The Sherborne Register 1550-1950" (PDF). Old Shirbirnian Society. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Pollard 1900.
- ^ Plant, David (2002). "Episcopalians". BCW Project. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
- JSTOR 564164.
Attribution
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Pollard, Albert Frederick (1885โ1900). "Winniffe, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co.