Early life

Davies was born about 1511, either at his father's house at Caerhun

Caerhun

Caerhun is a village and rural community on the west bank of the River Conwy, to the south of Henryd and to the north of Dolgarrog, in Conwy County Borough, north Wales. The population was 1200 at the 2001 Census.-Features:...

, in the parish of Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin

Llanbedr-y-Cennin is a small village in Conwy county borough, Wales.It lies in the foothills on the western side of the Conwy valley, in North Wales. The river Conwy runs through the valley, running into the sea to the north, at the town of Conwy, which is about five miles north of the village. ...

, between Conwy

Conwy

Conwy is a walled market town and community in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales. The town, which faces Deganwy across the River Conwy, formerly lay in Gwynedd and prior to that in Caernarfonshire. Conwy has a population of 14,208...

 and Llanrwst

Llanrwst

Llanrwst is a small town and community on the A470 road and the River Conwy in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It takes its name from the 5th century to 6th century Saint Grwst, and the original parish church in Cae Llan was replaced by the 12th-century church....

 in Carnarvonshire, or, as some say, in Conwy town. His father, reputed to be a descendant of Sir Gruffudd Llwyd, was a country gentleman; his brothers filled posts as sheriff, coroner, and escheator of Carnarvonshire.

In 1535 the rectory of Llanbedr, together with the vicarage of Caerhun, was conferred on Davies, who must have been resident for the next few years at Cambridge. After a possible previous period at Oxford, he entered St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College, Cambridge

St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....

 and afterwards Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

, where he proceeded LL.B. in 1543, and LL.D. in 1548. In 1546 he appears as holding the office of Chancellor of Bangor Cathedral

Bangor Cathedral

Bangor Cathedral is an ancient place of Christian worship situated in Bangor, Gwynedd, north-west Wales. It is dedicated to its founder, Saint Deiniol....

, and in 1552 Arthur Bulkeley

Arthur Bulkeley

Arthur Bulkeley was Bishop of Bangor from 1541 until his death in 1553.Bulkeley was born in Beaumaris, Anglesey. He was a graduate of Oxford University and in 1523 became Rector of St Peter-le-Bailey, Oxford. Later he was the incumbent at St James Garlickhythe in the City of London. In 1541 he...

, Bishop of Bangor

Bishop of Bangor

The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor.The diocese covers the counties of Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and a small part of Montgomeryshire...

, left him some books in his will. He held various other livings, including one portion of the sinecure of Llandinam

Llandinam

Llandinam is village in Powys, central Wales, between Newtown and Llanidloes, located on the A470.Llandinam was the family home of David Davies who was responsible for much of the development of the South Wales Valleys and the export of coal in the 19th century...

, and retained his preferments during the reigns of Edward

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

 and Mary

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...

.

Bishop

He was a sufficiently good Catholic to receive from Cardinal Pole the custody of the spiritualities of Bangor on the death of William Glyn in 1558; but he conformed on the accession of Elizabeth

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

, was made archdeacon of St Asaph

Diocese of St Asaph

The Diocese of Saint Asaph is a diocese in north-east Wales, named after Saint Asaph, its second bishop.-Geography:The Anglican Diocese of St Asaph in the north-east corner of Wales stretches from the borders of Chester in the east, to the Conwy valley in the west, to Bala in the south-west, and...

, and was appointed bishop of the see on the translation of Bishop Richard Davies to St David's. He was consecrated at Croydon

Croydon

Croydon is a town in South London, England, located within the London Borough of Croydon to which it gives its name. It is situated south of Charing Cross...

 by 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....

 on 26 May 1561.

Even before his consecration his ‘hasty proceedings’ had excited the alarm of his predecessor. Perhaps it was in consequence of this that the temporalities of the see were not restored until 2 April 1562. They were worth £187 a year, and, following the precedent of Richard Davies, the new bishop retained his other preferments. This being done without legal warrant, complaints were made to the queen and council, but Parker took up Davies's cause, and the council accepted his view, and he was allowed to hold the rectories of Estyn and Crome in commendam. He possibly resigned to his kinsfolk some of his other livings, after having, it was said, made scandalous leases of the property that left little to his successors.

He was present in the convocation of 1562, and subscribed with the other bishops the Thirty-nine Articles

Thirty-Nine Articles

The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historically defining statements of doctrines of the Anglican church with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. First established in 1563, the articles served to define the doctrine of the nascent Church of England as it related to...

. In December 1566 he joined the other bishops in signing a letter to the queen urging her to allow the bill enforcing subscription to the Articles which she had stayed in the House of Lords, to pass through parliament. In 1571 he subscribed by proxy the canons agreed upon in that year. He seems to have lived mostly in his diocese, and to have shown zeal for conformity. He drew up a series of directions to the clergy enjoining on them to keep residence and hospitality, to abolish relics and superstitions, to provide for the Welsh as well as the English, to enjoin the performance of the lawful ceremonies, to wear the proper vestments, to keep true registers, to provide themselves with books, and to use the stipends hitherto set apart for the ‘lady priest’ for parish schoolmasters. In 1570 he told William Cecil

William Cecil

William Cecil may refer to:* Lord William Cecil , British royal courtier* William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , English politician and advisor to Elizabeth I* William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Exeter , Knight of the Garter...

 that he had reduced his see to much better order than that in which he found it; but as there was still some disorderly persons, he prayed for the institution of an ecclesiastical commission for his diocese.

Death and legacy

He died on 16 October 1573, and was buried at Abergele

Abergele

Abergele is a community and old Roman trading town, situated on the north coast of Wales between the holiday resorts of Colwyn Bay and Rhyl, in Conwy County Borough. Its northern suburb of Pensarn lies on the Irish Sea coast and is known for its beach, where it is claimed by some that a ghost ship...

, but no monument marks his remains. His will, dated 19 April 1570, included a legacy for the foundation of a scholarship at Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College, Cambridge

Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.The college was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou , and refounded in 1465 by Elizabeth Woodville...

, and bequests of £10 for Bangor school

Friars School, Bangor

Ysgol Friars is a comprehensive school in Bangor, Gwynedd, and one of the oldest schools in Wales.-1557 Establishment:The school was founded by Geoffrey Glyn, Doctor of Laws, who had been brought up in Anglesey and had followed a career in law in London....

, for furniture for the Bishop of Bangor's house, and for the church in which he was buried.

Family

His wife, Margaret, survived him, and acted as his executrix. His only daughter, Catherine, married William Holland, a gentleman of Abergele.