Rowland Searchfield (c. 1565 – October 11, 1622) was an English academic and bishop.

Life

He was born in 1564 or 1565, and entered Merchant Taylors' School

Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood

Merchant Taylors' School is a British independent day school for boys, originally located in the City of London. Since 1933 it has been located at Sandy Lodge in the Three Rivers district of Hertfordshire ....

 in 1575. He matriculated as fellow at St John's College, Oxford

St John's College, Oxford

__FORCETOC__St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, one of the larger Oxford colleges with approximately 390 undergraduates, 200 postgraduates and over 100 academic staff. It was founded by Sir Thomas White, a merchant, in 1555, whose heart is buried in the chapel of...

, on 6 July 1582, aged 17. He graduated B.A. on 11 October 1586, M.A. on 2 June 1590, and B.D. on June 1597; he was dispensed from the usual exercises on the grounds of duties at the command of the archbishop of Canterbury. He graduated D.D. on 1 June 1608.

He was appointed rector of the university on 21 April 1596, and was licensed to preach on 17 February 1606. In 1601 he was made vicar of Evenley

Evenley

Evenley is a village and civil parish just over south of Brackley in South Northamptonshire, England.-Geography:The parish is bounded by the River Great Ouse to the north-east, one of its tributaries to the north-west and on other sides by field boundaries. The parish's north-eastern boundary is...

, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, and rector of Burthrop, Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

, and in 1606 he became vicar of Charlbury

Charlbury

Charlbury is a small town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about north of Witney in West Oxfordshire. It is on the edge of the Wychwood forest and the Cotswolds.-Place name:The origin of the town's toponym is obscure...

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, succeeding his father-in-law Ralph Hutchinson

Ralph Hutchinson (President of St John's)

Ralph Hutchinson was an English clergyman and academic, President of St John's College, Oxford and a translator of the Authorised King James Version.-Life:He was a younger son of John Hutchinson of London...

..

On 18 March 1619 he was elected bishop of Bristol, being consecrated on 9 May following, and receiving back the temporalities on the 28th. He died on 11 October 1622, and was buried in Bristol Cathedral

Bristol Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity is the Church of England cathedral in the city of Bristol, England, and is commonly known as Bristol Cathedral...

. The diarist John Manningham

John Manningham

John Manningham was an English lawyer and diarist, a contemporary source for Elizabethan and Jacobean life and the London dramatic world, including William Shakespeare.-Life:...

described him as 'a dissembled Christian'.

By his wife Anne, daughter of Ralph and Mary Hutchinson, he had one or more sons.