John Sharp (bishop)

For other people named John Sharp, see John Sharp (disambiguation).

Archbishop Sharp, 1691 engraving by Robert White.

John Sharp (16 February 1644/5 – 2 February 1714), English divine, Archbishop of York, was born at Bradford, eldest son of Thomas West, a salter, and Dorothy Weddal. He educated at Christ's College, Cambridge.^[1]

Biography

Sharp was ordained deacon and priest on 12 August 1667, and until 1676 was chaplain and tutor in the family of Heneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham at Kensington House. Meanwhile, he became archdeacon of Berkshire (1673), prebendary of Norwich, rector of St Giles's-in-the-Fields, and in 1681 dean of Norwich.^[2]

In 1686, when chaplain to James II, he was suspended for ten months on a charge of having made some reflections on the king, and in 1688 was cited for refusing to read the Declaration of Indulgence.^[2] He was described as a "vehement preacher" whose eyes "flamed remarkably".

Under William and Mary he succeeded Tillotson as Dean of Canterbury in 1689, and (after declining a choice of sees vacated by non-jurors who were his personal friends) followed Thomas Lamplugh as Archbishop of York in 1691. He made a thorough investigation of the affairs of his see, and regulated the disordered chapter of Southwell.^[2]

Advisor to Queen Anne

He preached at the coronation of Queen Anne and became her Lord High Almoner and confidential adviser in matters of church and state, completely eclipsing Thomas Tenison, the Archbishop of Canterbury, whose Low Church views made him uncongenial to the Queen. Anne, as he records, said "that I would be her confessor, and she would be mine". His diary makes it clear that she often confided State business to him, and listened carefully to any arguments he made, even if she did not always follow his advice. His diary is a useful source for her reign, and contradicts the Memoirs of Sarah Churchill on a number of crucial points : unlike Sarah, he maintains that the Queen was devastated by her husband's death ("we both wept"), and that her increasingly close friendship with Abigail Masham was not a secret ("talked with the Queen of Mrs. Masham, I find she has a true kindness for her").

Sarah Churchill, who prided herself on never dissembling her opinions, and eventually lost the Queen's friendship as a result, said that Sharp quickly came to know and comply with the Queen's wishes on all subjects. However, the Queen never appointed a bishop without consulting Sharp and always tried to obtain his consent to her choice. By contrast, when Archbishop Tenison who was out of favour, protested that he had not been consulted about the appointment of Sir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet as the new Bishop of Winchester in 1707, the Queen cut him short with the cold remark that "the matter was decided", and she continued to ignore Tenison's wishes on episcopal appointments. The Queen relied on Sharp to support her policies in the House of Lords, although she made it clear that he could vote against her wishes if his conscience so demanded it; he was also expected to act as one of her Parliamentary "managers", lobbying not only the bishops but also those Yorkshire MPs who were known to him personally.

He was a Commissioner for the Union with Scotland in 1705-7, as was his fellow Archbishop, Tenison. He welcomed the Armenian bishops who came to England in 1713, and corresponded with the Prussian court on the possibility of the Anglican liturgy as a means of reconciliation between Lutherans and Calvinists.^[2] On the much debated question of whether the Queen favoured the Old Pretender or the House of Hanover, Sharp, although he died before the matter became critical, was certain that she favoured the Hanoverian succession.

He died at Bath on 2 February 1714. At his request the Queen promoted William Dawes to fill the vacant see.

Works

His works (chiefly sermons) were published in 7 volumes in 1754, and in 5 volumes at Oxford in 1829.^[2]

Family

Sharp was married, by John Tillotson, at Clerkenwell in 1676 to Elizabeth Palmer of Winthorpe, Lincolnshire. Of his fourteen children, only four survived him. Of these, John Sharp (1678–1727) of Grafton Park represented Ripon in Parliament from 1701 to 1714; he was a commissioner of trade from 15 September 1713 to September 1714, and died on 9 March 1726–7; in Wicken church, Northamptonshire, there is a monument to him and his wife Anna Maria, daughter of Charles Hosier of Wicken Park. Thomas (1693–1758), the youngest son, was a churchman and the biographer of his father.^[3] The English surgeon William Sharp and his brother the abolitionist Granville Sharp were sons of Thomas. Sir Joshua Sharp, Sheriff of London in 1713, was the Archbishop's brother.

References

↑ "Sharp, John (SHRP660J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
1 2 3 4 5 Chisholm 1911.
↑ "Sharp, John (1645-1714)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sharp, John". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Sharp, John (1645-1714)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

Church of England titles
Preceded by John Tillotson	Dean of Canterbury 1689–1691	Succeeded by George Hooper
Preceded by Thomas Lamplugh	Archbishop of York 1691–1714	Succeeded by William Dawes

Deans of Norwich

Early modern	William Castleton John Salisbury John Christopherson John Boxall John Harpsfield John Salisbury George Gardiner Thomas Dove John Jegon George Montgomery Edmund Suckling John Hassal John Crofts Herbert Astley John Sharp Henry Fairfax Humphrey Prideaux Thomas Cole Robert Butts John Baron Thomas Bellock Edward Townshend Philip Lloyd

Late modern	Joseph Turner George Pellew Meyrick Goulburn William Lefroy Henry Wakefield Henry Beeching John Willink David Cranage Herbert St Barbe Holland Norman Hook Alan Webster David Edwards Paul Burbridge Stephen Platten Graham Smith Jane Hedges (announced)

Deans of Canterbury

Early modern	Nicholas Wotton Thomas Godwin Richard Rogers Thomas Nevile Charles Fotherby John Boys Isaac Bargrave George Aglionby Thomas Turner John Tillotson John Sharp George Hooper George Stanhope Elias Sydall John Lynch William Freind John Potter Brownlow North John Moore The Hon James Cornwallis George Horne William Buller Folliott Cornewall

Late modern	Thomas Powys Gerrard Andrewes Hugh Percy Richard Bagot William Lyall Henry Alford Robert Payne Smith Frederic Farrar Henry Wace George Bell Dick Sheppard Hewlett Johnson Ian White-Thomson Victor de Waal John Simpson Robert Willis

Bishops and Archbishops of York

Pre-Reformation Bishops	Paulinus Chad Wilfrid Bosa John of Beverley Wilfrid II

Pre-Reformation Archbishops	Egbert Æthelbert Eanbald I Eanbald II Wulfsige Wigmund Wulfhere Æthelbald Hrotheweard Wulfstan I Oscytel Edwald Oswald Ealdwulf Wulfstan II Ælfric Puttoc Cynesige Ealdred Thomas of Bayeux Gerard Thomas II Thurstan William FitzHerbert Henry Murdac William FitzHerbert Roger de Pont L'Évêque Geoffrey Plantagenet Simon Langton Walter de Gray Sewal de Bovil Godfrey Ludham William Langton Bonaventure Walter Giffard William de Wickwane John le Romeyn Henry of Newark Thomas of Corbridge William Greenfield William Melton William Zouche John of Thoresby Alexander Neville Thomas Arundel Robert Waldby Richard le Scrope Thomas Langley Robert Hallam Henry Bowet Philip Morgan Richard Fleming John Kemp William Booth George Neville Lawrence Booth Thomas Rotherham Thomas Savage Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Wolsey

Post-Reformation Archbishops	Edward Lee Robert Holgate Nicholas Heath Thomas Young Edmund Grindal Edwin Sandys John Piers Matthew Hutton Tobias Matthew George Montaigne Samuel Harsnett Richard Neile John Williams Accepted Frewen Richard Sterne John Dolben Thomas Lamplugh John Sharp Sir William Dawes Bt Lancelot Blackburne Thomas Herring Matthew Hutton John Gilbert Robert Hay Drummond William Markham Edward Venables-Vernon-Harcourt Thomas Musgrave Charles Longley William Thomson William Magee William Maclagan Cosmo Lang William Temple Cyril Garbett Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Stuart Blanch John Habgood David Hope John Sentamu

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 42650191 ISNI: 0000 0000 8377 0334 GND: 119519364 SUDOC: 15472968X

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