Thomas Bickley was an English churchman, a Marian exile who became Warden of Merton College, Oxford

Merton College, Oxford

Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...

 and Bishop of Chichester

Bishop of Chichester

The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...

Life

He was born at Stow, Buckinghamshire, and began his education as a chorister in the free school of Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

 He afterwards became a demy, and in 1541 was elected a Fellow of the college. He acquired a reputation as a reformer and preacher of reformed doctrine, and soon after the accession of Edward VI was appointed one of the king's chaplains at Windsor

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is a medieval castle and royal residence in Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, notable for its long association with the British royal family and its architecture. The original castle was built after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I it...

.

During the reign of Mary I of England

Mary I of England

Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...

 he went to France, where he spent most of his time in study at Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Orléans

Orléans

-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...

. Returning to England after the accession of Elizabeth I, he enjoyed rapid promotion, being made, within ten years, chaplain to Archbishop Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

, rector of Biddenden

Biddenden

Biddenden is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village lies on the Weald of Kent, some five miles north of Tenterden. It was centre for Wealden iron industry and also of clothmaking. During the reign of Edward III some Flemish clothworkers settled in the area...

 in Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, of Sutton Waldron

Sutton Waldron

Sutton Waldron is a village in north Dorset, England, situated on the A350 road between Iwerne Minster and Fontmell Magna, in the Blackmore Vale under the scarp of Cranborne Chase, eight miles north of Blandford Forum and five miles south of Shaftesbury. The village has a population of 192 . It...

 in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, archdeacon of Stafford, chancellor in Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands...

, and Warden of Merton College, Oxford.

He was made bishop of Chichester in 1585. Some of the returns to articles of inquiry made at his visitations have been preserved amongst the episcopal records. He died in 1596, and was buried in Chichester Cathedral

Chichester Cathedral

The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...

 on 26 May. A tablet to Bickley's memory is attached to the north wall of the lady chapel

Lady chapel

A Lady chapel, also called Mary chapel or Marian chapel, is a traditional English term for a chapel inside a cathedral, basilica, or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary...

, surmounted by a small kneeling effigy of the bishop.