William Nicholson (bishop)
Encyclopedia
William Nicholson was an English clergyman, a member of the Westminster Assembly
Westminster Assembly
The Westminster Assembly of Divines was appointed by the Long Parliament to restructure the Church of England. It also included representatives of religious leaders from Scotland...

 and Bishop of Gloucester
Bishop of Gloucester
The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire and has its see in the City of Gloucester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church...

.

Life

The son of Christopher Nicholson, a rich clothier, he was born at Stratford St. Mary, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

, on 1 November 1591. He became a chorister 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...

, in 1598, and received his education in the grammar school attached to the college. He graduated B.A. in 1611, and M.A. 1615. He was a bible clerk of the college from 1612 to 1615. In 1614 he was appointed to the college living of New Shoreham
New Shoreham
New Shoreham may refer to:* New Shoreham, Rhode Island, United States* Shoreham-by-Sea , West Sussex, England** Shoreham 1974–1997** New Shoreham 1295–1885See also:...

, Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...

. He held the office of chaplain at Magdalen from 1616 to 1618. He was also chaplain to Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland KG was an English aristocrat. He was a grandee and one of the wealthiest peers of the court of Elizabeth I. Under James I, Henry was a long-term prisoner in the Tower of London. He is known for the circles he moved in as well as for his own achievements...

, during his imprisonment in the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

, from 1606 to 1621, and was tutor to his son, Lord Percy
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland
Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland, 4th Baron Percy, KG was an English military leader and a prominent supporter of constitutional monarchy.-Family background:...

.

In 1616 he was appointed master of the free school 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...

. He held the post till 1629, when he went to Wales, having been presented to the rectory of Llandilo-Vawr, in Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...

, in 1626. In 1644 he was made archdeacon of Brecon. The year before he had been nominated a member of the Westminster Assembly of divines, probably through the interest of the Earl of Northumberland, but he speedily withdrew, together with the most of the rest of the episcopalian clergy. When deprived of his preferments by the parliament he maintained himself by keeping a private school, which he carried on in partnership with Jeremy Taylor
Jeremy Taylor
Jeremy Taylor was a clergyman in the Church of England who achieved fame as an author during the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. He is sometimes known as the "Shakespeare of Divines" for his poetic style of expression and was often presented as a model of prose writing...

 and William Wyatt at Newton Hall ('Collegium Newtoniense'), in the parish of Llanfihangel
Llanfihangel
Llanfihangel can refer to the following places in Wales:*Llanfihangel Aberbythych, Carmarthenshire*Llanfihangel y Creuddyn, Ceredigion*Llanfihangel-ar-Arth, Carmarthenshire*Llanfihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire...

, in Carmarthenshire. One of his pupils was Judge John Powell
John Powell (judge)
Sir John Powell was a Welsh judge, who was a judge of the Court of Common Pleas and of the Court of King's Bench. He presided over the trial of the Seven Bishops in 1688.-Life:...

. With Taylor, he wrote in the defence of the doctrine and discipline of the church of England, and in illustration of her teaching. His Exposition of the Apostles' Creed and Exposition of the Church Catechism were both written for the instruction of his former parishioners at Llandilo.

At the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 Nicholson returned to his parish, and resumed his former preferments, to which was added a residentiary canonry at St. Davids. In 1661 he was consecrated bishop of Gloucester by Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...

 and Accepted Frewen
Accepted Frewen
Accepted Frewen was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of York from 1660 to 1664.He was born at Northiam, in Sussex, and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where in 1612 he became a Fellow. In 1617 and 1621 the college allowed him to act as chaplain to Sir John Digby, ambassador...

 on 6 January, in Henry VII's Chapel. He was allowed to hold his archdeaconry and canonry together with the living of Bishops Cleeve in commendam
In Commendam
In canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron...

. He preached in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

 on 20 December 1661, at the funeral of Bishop Nicolas Monk, who had been consecrated with him in the preceding January. He was appointed to the sinecure rectory of Llansantfraid-yn-Mechan in Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire
Montgomeryshire, also known as Maldwyn is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire is still used as a vice-county for wildlife recording...

 in 1663. According to Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter
Richard Baxter was an English Puritan church leader, poet, hymn-writer, theologian, and controversialist. Dean Stanley called him "the chief of English Protestant Schoolmen". After some false starts, he made his reputation by his ministry at Kidderminster, and at around the same time began a long...

, though not a commissioner, he attended the meetings of the Savoy Conference
Savoy Conference
The Savoy Conference of 1661 was a significant liturgical discussion that took place, after the Restoration of Charles II, in an attempt to effect a reconciliation within the Church of England.-Proceedings:...

, and spoke once or twice. His treatment of the nonconformists in his diocese was conciliatory; he connived at the preaching of those whom he had reason to respect, and offered a living to one of them if he would conform. He was the patron of George Bull
George Bull
George Bull was an English theologian and Bishop of St David's.-Life:He was born, 25 March 1634, in the parish of St. Cuthbert, Wells, and educated in the grammar school at Wells, and then at Blundell's School in Tiverton under Samuel Butler. Before he was fourteen years old he went into...

, who at his request was presented by Lord Clarendon to a living in his diocese. In 1663 he caused a new font
Baptismal font
A baptismal font is an article of church furniture or a fixture used for the baptism of children and adults.-Aspersion and affusion fonts:...

 to be erected in Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral
Gloucester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the river. It originated in 678 or 679 with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to Saint Peter .-Foundations:The foundations of the present...

, and dedicated it; for this he was attacked in a pamphlet, entitled More News from Rome. He died on 5 February 1672, aged 72, and was buried in a side chantry of the lady-chapel at Gloucester, in which his wife Elizabeth, who predeceased him on 20 April 1663, had also been interred. A monument was erected by his grandson, Owen Brigstocke, of Lechdenny, Carmarthenshire, with an epitaph by his friend George Bull, describing him as 'legenda scribens, faciens scribenda.'

Works

He published:
  • A plain Exposition of the Church Catechism, 1655 (re-issued in the Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
    Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology
    The Library of Anglo-Catholic Theology was a series of 19th-century editions of theological works by Church of England writers, devoted as the title suggests to significant Anglo-Catholic figures...

    ).
  • Apology for the Discipline of the Ancient Church, 1659.
  • Plain Exposition of the Apostles' Creed (dedicated to Gilbert Sheldon), 1661.
  • Easy Analysis of the whole Book of Psalms, 1662.


Nicholson's name has been quoted as an authority in the controversy as to the authorship of Eikon Basilike
Eikon Basilike
The Eikon Basilike , The Pourtrature of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings, was a purported spiritual autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England...

. After her husband's death in 1662 the widow of John Gauden
John Gauden
John Gauden was an English bishop of Exeter then bishop of Worcester and writer, and the reputed author of the important Royalist work Eikon Basilike.-Life:...

settled in Gloucester; on the occasion of her receiving communion, the bishop put the question to her, and she affirmed that it was written by her husband.
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