Life

He was baptised at St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, on 14 October 1599, a younger son (one of sixteen children) of William Paul, a butcher of Eastcheap, London. He went to Oxford in 1614, and matriculated 15 November 1616 at All Souls' College. He became a fellow of All Souls' in 1618, graduated B.A. 9 June 1618, M.A. 1 June 1621, B.D. 13 March 1629, and D.D. 10 March 1632.

After taking holy orders he was a frequent preacher in Oxford and was rector of a mediety of Patshall, Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

, from 7 February 1626 till 1628. In 1632 or 1633 he became rector of Baldwin-Brightwell, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

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

, and about that time was also made chaplain to Charles I of England

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

, and canon-residentiary of Chichester

Chichester

Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...

, holding the prebend of Seaford

Seaford

-In the United States of America:*Seaford, Delaware*Seaford, New York*Seaford, Virginia*Seaford Hundred, an unincorporated subdivision of Sussex County, Delaware; see List of Delaware Hundreds-In Australia:*Seaford, Victoria**Seaford railway station, Melbourne...

. After the outbreak of the First English Civil War

First English Civil War

The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...

 the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 resolved (5 October 1642) that he should be allowed to attend the king as chaplain in ordinary.

When the ware ended he lost his prebend of Chichester as a delinquent, but he was discharged by the committee for sequestrations; under the Commonwealth he lent out money. After 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...

 he again became royal chaplain, and recovered his Seaford prebend and his Oxford livings. He became vicar of Amport

Amport

Amport is a small village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of NW Hampshire, England, a few miles west of Andover. It incorporates the small hamlet of East Cholderton and has a population of about 800....

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, in 1662. He was Dean of Lichfield  from 26 January 1661, and took part in the election of John Hacket

John Hacket

John Hacket was an English churchman, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry from 1661 until his death.-Life:He was born in London and educated at Westminster and Trinity College, Cambridge. On taking his degree he was elected a fellow of his college, and soon afterwards wrote the comedy, Loiola , which...

 as bishop.

In 1663 he became bishop of Oxford. 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 the king expected that Paul would devote his wealth to rebuilding the bishop's palace at Cuddesden, but nothing was done before he died at Chinnor

Chinnor

Chinnor is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Thame. The village is a Spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment...

  on 24 August 1665. He was buried at Baldwin-Brightwell, where a monument, with a long inscription, was erected.

Family

Paul married, in 1632, Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Glemham, and sister of Anne Glemham who married Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester

Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester

Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester was an English art collector, diplomat and Secretary of State.-Early life:He was the second son of Antony Carleton of Brightwell Baldwin, Oxfordshire, and of Jocosa, daughter of John Goodwin of Winchendon, Buckinghamshire...

. The marriage led to a suit between Paul and Anne, Viscountess of Dorchester, about a marriage settlement for Mary. The difference was referred to the archbishop of Canterbury and the lord keeper, and they found the Viscountess was willing to pay £250.

Paul's first wife died in 1633, and on 22 January 1635 he married, at St. Giles-in-the-fields, Alice, second daughter of Thomas Cutler of Ipswich. She died soon after, 19 November 1635, and was buried 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 November. Almost immediately after Paul married a third wife, Rachel, daughter of Sir Christopher Clitherow

Christopher Clitherow

Sir Christopher Clitherow was an English merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1628 to 1629. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1635....

, by whom he had a numerous family. Sir William Stapleton, bart., married the heiress of Paul's only surviving grandson.

Seneca Valley

A gymnasium at Seneca Valley Senior High School in Harmony, PA is named after William Paul after his direct blood relative, John C. Paul, who became a bishop in the Pittsburgh diocese in 1984, blessed the gymnasium as a sign of friendship towards the seneca indians to make up for the bad relations between the Pauls' British ancestors during the French in Indian War, where General Paul ordered the colonists to give the Seneca Indians blankets infected with small pox.