Archdeacon of St Albans

The Archdeacon of St Albans is an ecclesiastical post in the Church of England Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The current incumbent is Jonathan Smith, who became Archdeacon of St Albans in July 2008.^[1]

History

Before the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Henrican reforms of the 16th century, there were Archdeacons of St Albans from within the Abbey. Registers list archdeacons starting in 1420, but this old "abbey archdeaconry" is supposed to have been created in the reign of Henry III (13th century).

The "diocesan archdeaconry" was newly-constituted from St Albans Abbey's parishes in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire in 1550;^[2] it remained a part of the Diocese of London until 1845, when it and was transferred to the diocese of Rochester, at which point its boundaries were made to coincide with those of Hertfordshire. Thirty years later, the archdeaconries of Essex, of Colchester and of St Albans were taken from the Rochester diocese to create the Diocese of St Albans in 1878.^[3] Shortly after the two Essex archdeaconries were erected into the Diocese of Chelmsford in 1914, the St Albans diocese received the ancient county archdeaconry of Bedford from the Diocese of Ely; there has once again been a third archdeaconry since the split on 1 January 1997 of the Hertford archdeaconry from the Archdeaconry of St Albans.

List of archdeacons

Medieval From the 13th century, there was an archdeaconry within the Abbey's jurisdiction. These "abbey archdeacons" were monks from the abbey monastery: 1415–bef. 1420: John Blebury 1420–bef. 1425: John Hatfield 1425–bef. 1435: William Alnwick/Alnewyke (possibly the Bishop of Norwich and of Lincoln) 1435–bef. 1437: John Peyton 1437–bef. 1441: John Hatfield 1441–bef. 1446: Stephen London 1446–bef. 1450: William Albon 1450–bef. 1476: William of Wallingford 1476–bef. 1478: Nicholas Boston 1478–bef. 1490: John Rothebury 1490–bef. 1494: John Thornton 1494–bef. 1495: Thomas Newland/Newlonde 1495–bef. 1505: Richard Runham 1505–bef. 1506: John Stonewell/Stonywell 1506: John Killingworth 1506–bef. 1509: John Albon 1509–bef. 1512: John Mainard/Maynard 1512–bef. 1514: Richard Runham 1514–bef. 1517: Thomas Marshall 1517–bef. 1531: Thomas Kingsbury/Kyngesbury[4] 1531: Egidius Ferrers 1531–bef. 1539: Thomas Kingsbury/Kyngesbury 1539–1550: William East/Este Early modern On 1 April 1550, letters patent annexed the abbey's parishes to the Diocese of London. Not long after, the diocesan archdeaconry was erected and East (re-)appointed: 1550–bef. 1557 (res.): William East/Este 26 February 1557–bef. 1560 (depr.): James Dugdale (deprived) 17 July 1560–bef. 1581 (res.): David Kempe 3 January 1581–bef. July 1581 (res.): Giles Lawrence 5 July 1581–aft. 1602: William Hutchinson bef. 1626–bef. 1631 (d.): Thomas Raymond 14 November 1631–25 June 1644 (d.): Thomas Westfield (in commendam as Bishop of Bristol from 1642)

19 December 1660–bef. 1664 (d.): Mark Frank 30 June 1664–24 April 1671 (d.): Christopher Shute 28 April 1671–19 July 1683 (d.): William Bell 9 August 1683–bef. 1688 (d.): Edward Carter 4 June 1688–bef. 1713 (d.): John Cole 21 April 1713–September 1715 (d.): Lionel Gatford 6 October 1715–13 September 1738 (d.): Philip Stubbs 14 October 1738–1741 (res.): Fifield Allen (afterwards Archdeacon of Middlesex) 14 June 1741–29 August 1754 (d.): John Cole 13 September 1754–12 August 1781 (d.): James Ibbetson 5 September 1781–1788 (res.): Samuel Horsley (afterwards Bishop of St David's) 8 January 1789–1813 (res.): Joseph Pott (afterwards Archdeacon of London) 4 January 1814–bef. 1816 (res.): Robert Hodgson 23 January 1816–9 June 1839 (d.): John Watson 17 June 1839–1840 (res.): William Hale (afterwards Archdeacon of Middlesex) 16 October 1840–28 August 1845 (res.): Charles Burney (afterwards Archdeacon of Colchester) The archdeaconry, by this point covering all Hertfordshire, was transferred to Rochester diocese by Order in Council on 8 August 1845 13 January 1846–25 November 1883 (d.): Anthony Grant (also Archdeacon of Rochester, 1863–1882) Late modern 1884–1909 (res.): Walter Lawrance (also the first Dean of St Albans from 1900)[5] 1909–1933 (ret.): Hon. Kenneth Gibbs (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[6] 1933–31 December 1935 (d.): Arthur Parnell[7] 1936–1942 (res.): Aylmer Skelton (also Bishop suffragan of Bedford from 1939; afterwards Bishop of Lincoln)[8] 1942–1951 (res.): Thomas Wood (also Bishop suffragan of Bedford from 1948)[9] 1951–1962 (ret.): Charles Cockbill (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[10] 1962–1973 (ret.): Basil Snell (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[11] 1973–1974 (res.): Peter Mumford (afterwards Bishop suffragan of Hertford)[12] 1974–1981 (res.): David Farmbrough (afterwards Bishop suffragan of Bedford)[13] 1982–1987 (ret.): Edward Norfolk (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[14] 1987–1998 (ret.): Philip Davies (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[15] 1999–2002 (res.): Richard Cheetham (afterwards area Bishop of Kingston)[16] 2003–2007 (ret.): Helen Cunliffe (afterwards archdeacon emeritus)[17] July 2008–present: Jonathan Smith[18]

References

1. Diocese of St Albans: archdeacons. Retrieved on 24 November 2010.
2. Horn, Joyce M., Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, 1, pp. 9–11
3. Horn, Joyce M., Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, 3, pp. 45–47
4. He proved the wills of Richard and Joan Willows of Winslow
5. Lawrance, Very Rev. Walter John. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
6. Gibbs, Ven. Hon. Kenneth Francis. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
7. Parnell, Ven. Arthur Henry. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
8. Skelton, Rt Rev. Henry Aylmer. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
9. Wood, Rt Rev. Claud Thomas Thellusson. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
10. Cockbill, Ven. Charles Shipley. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
11. Snell, Ven. Basil Clark. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
12. Mumford, Rt Rev. Peter. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
13. Farmbrough, Rt Rev. David John. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
14. Norfolk, Ven. Edward Matheson. Who's Who. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
15. Davies, Ven. Philip Bertram. Who Was Who. 1920–2014 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
16. Kingston-upon-Thames, Area Bishop of, (Rt Rev. Dr Richard Ian Cheetham). Who's Who. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
17. Cunliffe, Ven. Helen Margaret. Who's Who. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
18. Smith, Ven. Jonathan Peter. Who's Who. 2014 (December 2013 online ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. Retrieved 23 November 2014.

Sources

• Madden, Bandinel et al. (1st ed.) & Nichols (2nd ed.). Collectanea Topographica & Genealogica, Vol. VII p. 302
• Hardy & Le Neve: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae: or a calendar of the principal..., Volume 2. pp. 344–345
• Horn, Joyce M., Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, 1, pp. 14–16
• Horn, Joyce M., Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1541–1857, 3, p. 59

External links

• Records of the Archdeaconry of St Alban's (National Archives)