Richard Towgood

Richard Towgood (c.1595–1683) was an English royalist churchman, Dean of Bristol from 1667.

Life

He was born near Bruton, Somerset, about 1595. The family name is spelled also Toogood, Twogood, and Towgard. He entered Oriel College, Oxford, as a servitor in 1610 and matriculated 19 April 1611, at the age of sixteen. He graduated B.A. 1 February 1615, M.A. 4 February 1618, and B.D. 7 November 1633. Having taken orders about 1615, he preached in the neighbourhood of Oxford, till he was appointed master of the grammar school in College Green, Bristol.

In 1619 he was instituted vicar of All Saints', Bristol, and preferred in 1626 to the vicarage of St. Nicholas, Bristol. He was made a chaplain to Charles I about 1633. On 20 February 1645 he was sequestered from his vicarage for opposing the parliamentary government. He was several times imprisoned under severe conditions, was ordered to be shot, and then reprieved. Gaining his liberty, he retired to Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. After some years, through the mediation of Archbishop James Ussher, he began to preach at Kingswood Chapel, near Wotton, and was soon after presented to the neighbouring rectory of Tortworth.

On the Restoration he returned to St. Nicholas, Bristol, invited by the parishioners. He was installed, 25 August 1660, in the sixth prebend in Bristol Cathedral, to which he had been nominated before the civil war; and was sworn chaplain to Charles II. In 1664 he was presented to the vicarage of Weare, Somerset. On 1 May 1667 he succeeded Henry Glemham as dean of Bristol, and in October 1671 he was offered the bishopric, vacant on the death of Gilbert Ironside, but declined it. He died on 21 April 1683, in his eighty-ninth year, and was buried in the north aisle of the choir of the cathedral. He published two sermons in 1643, another in 1676.

By his wife Elizabeth he had sons Richard and William; his grandson Richard (son of Richard) was prebendary of Bristol (30 July 1685) and vicar of Bitton (1685), Olveston (1697), and Winterbourne (1698), all in Gloucestershire.

Sources

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

Deans of Bristol

Early modern	William Snow John Whiteheare/Whythere George Carew Henry Joliffe John Sprint Anthony Watson Simon Robson Edward Chetwynd Matthew Nicholas Henry Glemham Richard Towgood Samuel Crossman Richard Thompson William Levett George Royse The Hon Robert Booth Samuel Creswick Thomas Chamberlayne William Warburton Samuel Squire Francis Ayscough Cutts Barton John Hallam

Late modern	Charles Layard Bowyer Sparke John Parsons Henry Beeke Thomas Musgrave John Lamb Gilbert Elliot Francis Pigou Wynne Willson Edward Burroughs Henry de Candole Harry Blackburne Evered Lunt Douglas Harrison Horace Dammers Wesley Carr Robert Grimley David Hoyle

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 34801410

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 4/24/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.