John Egerton (bishop)

The Right Reverend John Egerton
Bishop of Durham
Diocese	Diocese of Durham
In office	1771–1787 (death)
Predecessor	Richard Trevor
Successor	Thomas Thurlow
Other posts	Dean of Hereford (24 July 1750[1]–1756) Bishop of Bangor (1756–1768) Bishop of Lichfield (12 October 1768 {translated}[1]–1771)
Personal details
Born	30 November 1721 St James's, Middlesex, Great Britain[1]
Died	18 June 1787 (aged 65) Mayfair, Middlesex, Great Britain[1]
Buried	St James's Church, Piccadilly[1]
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Residence	Grosvenor Square, Mayfair (at death)[1]
Parents	the Hon Henry Egerton (Bishop of Hereford) & Lady Elizabeth Bentinck[2]
Spouse	1. Lady Anne Grey (21 November 1748 {married}–1780 {her death}) 2. Mary Boughton (31 March 1782 {married}–1787 {his death})[1]
Children	Amelia Lady Hume John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater
Profession	Church of England
Education	Eton College[1]
Alma mater	Oriel College, Oxford[1]

Ordination history of John Egerton
Diaconal ordination
Ordained by	Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Winchester
Date of ordination	21 December 1745
Place of ordination	Grosvenor Chapel
Priestly ordination
Ordained by	Hoadly
Date of ordination	22 December 1745
Place of ordination	Grosvenor Chapel
Episcopal consecration
Date of consecration	4 July 1756
Source(s): [1][3][4]

John Egerton (30 November 1721 –18 June 1787) was a Church of England bishop from the Egerton family. He was consecrated Bishop of Bangor in 1756 (Welsh dioceses were part of the Church of England until 1920) and translated to Lichfield in 1768. He was translated again in 1771 to become Bishop of Durham, which see he held until his death in 1787.

Welsh language controversy

In 1766 Egerton caused controversy by appointing a monoglot English priest, Dr Thomas Bowles, to the parish of St Beuno, Trefdraeth and its chapelry of St Cwyfan, Llangwyfan.^[5][6] All but five of the parishioners spoke only Welsh, so the parishioners and churchwardens of Trefdraeth petitioned against Bowles' appointment, with the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion supporting and helping to fund their case.^[5][6] The Court of Arches heard evidence in the case in May 1770 but did not hear the prosecution and defence arguments until January 1773.^[5][6]

The prosecution argued that Bowles' inability to minister in Welsh contravened Article XXV of the Articles of Religion, the Act for the Translation of the Scriptures into Welsh 1563 and the Act of Uniformity 1662.^[5] The defence argued that the prosecution would have to prove that Bowles was totally incapable of speaking any Welsh at all, and even if they did so Bowles had lawfully been granted the ecclesiastical freehold and therefore could not be deprived of it.^[5]

The case was judged by Dean of Arches, George Hay. He agreed with the prosecution that only clergy who could speak Welsh should be appointed to Welsh-speaking parishes. However, he agreed with the defence that the case to deprive Bowles of the living had not been proved.^[5] He therefore allowed Bowles remain in post, which he did until he died in November of that year.^[5] Bowles was then replaced in the parish and chapelry with Richard Griffith, a priest who spoke Welsh.^[5]

Family

Egerton was the eldest son of Henry Egerton, Bishop of Hereford, himself a younger son of the 3rd Earl of Bridgewater. Egerton served under his father as Dean of Hereford and was later Bishop of Bangor 1756–68, Bishop of Lichfield 1768–71 and Bishop of Durham from 1771 until his death in 1787. On 21 November 1748, he married his cousin, Lady Anne Grey, a daughter and coheiress of the 1st Duke of Kent. They had three children:

• Amelia (1751–1809), married Sir Abraham Hume, 2nd Baronet.
• John William, later 7th Earl of Bridgewater (1753–1823)
• Francis Henry, later 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756–1829)

Lady Anne died in 1780, and on 31 March 1782, Egerton married Mary Boughton, a sister of Sir Edward Boughton. Egerton died in 1787 and the title Earl of Bridgewater (a subsidiary title of his childless cousin, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater) later passed to his eldest son in 1803.

References

1. "Egerton, John". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/8590. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
2. "Egerton, Henry". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/63756. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
3. Ordination Record: Egerton, John in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 15 September 2014)
4. Ordination Record: Egerton, John in "CCEd, the Clergy of the Church of England database" (Accessed online, 15 September 2014)
5. The Cymmrodorion (1773). The Depositions, Arguments and Judgement in the Cause of the Church-Wardens of Trefdraeth, In the County of Anglesea, against Dr. Bowles; adjudged by the Worshipful G. Hay, L.L.D. Dean of the Arches: Instituted To Remedy the Grievance of preferring Persons Unacquainted with the British Language, to Livings in Wales. London: William Harris. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
6. Ellis 1993, pp. 241–242

Sources

• Ellis, Peter Berresford (1994) [1993]. Celt and Saxon The Struggle for Britain AD 410–937. London: Constable & Co. pp. 241–242. ISBN 0-09-473260-4.