William Barlow (abt. 1500 - 1568)

Born about 1500 in Colchester, Essex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 13 Aug 1568 at about age 68 in Chichester, Sussex, England

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William Barlow is Notable.

Disputed Parents

William Barlow (d. 1568), bishop of Chichester, was thought to be the second son of John Barlow of Essex, and his wife, Christian Barley. However, this was based on a falsification of the Barlow family tree in the 17th century. An early will of William's brother Roger shows that he was son of Robert Barlow, a customs official near Colchester..

Biography

"William was Bishop of St Asaph and St David's in 1536, then in 1548 he became Bishop of Bath and Wells. William Barlow and his family can be seen as key players in promoting the religious changes in England during the Tudor period. William Barlow was the first Protestant Bishop in England. His elder brother Thomas had been chaplain to Queen Anne Boleyn. A third Barlow brother, John, who was also a chaplain, was also a friend to Queen Anne Boleyn. John was involved in the Great Matter, the divorce of King Henry VIII from his first wife Queen Catharine of Aragon. In 1528, it was John Barlow who discovered evidence that Cardinal Wolsey had betrayed the king whilst in Rome discussing the matter with the Pope. This only strengthened Anne Boleyn's hatred of the Cardinal and aided in his downfall in the following year."^[1]

William Barlow was the first Protestant Bishop in England, and was the first bishop to marry. He married, presumably during the 1530s, Agatha Wellesbourne (d.1595), daughter of Humphrey Wellesbourne, Mayor of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire^[2] They had 2 sons and 5 daughters, all of whom married bishops.

With the ascension of Queen Mary, Barlow was committed to the Tower on 16 September 1553. Having twice unsuccessfully tried to escape, he recanted before Gardiner in January 1555 and fled to Emden, where he was minister of an English congregation. After Mary's death in 1558, he returned to England and on 18 Dec he was appointed as Bishop of Chichester.

Children of William Barlow and Agatha Wellesbourne:

1. William Barlow (1544-1625) After attending Oxford University, William took Holy Orders and eventually became Treasurer of Lichfield Cathedral in 1588. In the reign of King James I he became chaplain to the king's son Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, and later in 1615 he was made Archdeacon of Salisbury. He married a woman called Julia and the couple had six children together. William left university with a keen interest in mathematics, and developed key theories about magnetism.
2. Anne (d.1597) m(1) Augustin Bradbridge (d.1567) (2) Herbert Westfaling (1531-1602), Bishop of Hereford (1586)
3. Elizabeth (1538-75) m. William Day (1529-96), Bishop of Winchester (Nov 1595- Sept 1596)
4. Margaret (1533-1601) m. William Overton (1525-1609), Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry (1580)
5. Frances (1551-1629) m(1) Matthew Parker (1551-74), son of Archbishop Parker (2)Tobias Matthew (1546-1628), Bishop of Durham (1595), Archbishop of York (1606)
6. Antonia (1552-98) m. William Wickham (1539-95), Bishop of Lincoln (1584), Bishop of Winchester (1595)

Notes

Augustinian Canon at St Osyth, Essex. Studied at Cambridge. Prior of Blackmore, Tiptree, and Lees (in Essex); and of Bromehill, Norfolk, R. of Gt Cressingham, 1525. Prior of Haverfordwest; and finally of Bisham, Berks., 1535. Bishop of St Asaph, 1536; and, same year, of St David's. Bishop of Bath and Wells, 1549-53. Then an exile in Germany. Bishop of Chichester, 1559, and Canon of Westminster. Died Aug. 13, 1568. (Cooper, I. 277; D.N.B.) He was a son of Thomas, of Barlow, Lancs., according to the pedigree in Thoresby's Duc. Leod. and grandson of Sir Thomas.

Sources

1. ↑ Danielle Evelyn, "The Barlow Brides of Bishops".
2. ↑ http://www.barlowgenealogy.com/england/families/lancashire/SlebetchBarlows.htm "Slebetch Barlows", with a different origin for Agatha!

• Glanmor Williams, ‘Barlow , William (d. 1568)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2015
• http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/1442, accessed 23 Aug 2016
• Wikipedia biography
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Barlow_(bishop_of_Chichester)
• Cambridge Alumni
• http://cupboardworld.blogspot.com/2014/11/the-barlow-brides-of-bishops.html
• Find A Grave: Memorial #54502350 Bishop William Barlow's findagrave profile
• https://books.google.com/books?id=rcyYum-HiQ4C&pg=PA141&lpg=PA141&dq=john+barlow+christian+barley&source=bl&ots=wgiFyPda6K&sig=vYkc80XCnMbCdy7VmhQHP1SmriA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEqueG07rSAhVfHGMKHdG-C1c4ChDoAQgxMAU#v=onepage&q=john%20barlow%20christian%20barley&f=false The Routledge Companion to the Tudor Age, p. 141
• https://books.google.com/books?id=Ku-BKL-MvmUC&pg=PA94&lpg=PA94&dq=agatha+wellesbourne&source=bl&ots=fUz0RoP2IO&sig=E3LVoYvF5VHrNkrvpeOffMTIOao&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXlMbj_szSAhUh34MKHbluB5UQ6AEIQTAI#v=onepage&q=agatha%20wellesbourne&f=false Women in English Society, 1500-1800 (2005), p. 94.
• https://books.google.com/books?id=3plOAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=william+barlow+heraldic+visitation&source=bl&ots=j_V70RimoM&sig=v3pAbfhMTozxAtlEKm7xO7hnMuM&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjzlo-D_8zSAhUG5IMKHQszAbkQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=william%20barlow%20heraldic%20visitation&f=false Heraldic Visitations of Wales and Part of the Marches: Between the Years 1586 and 1613, Under the Authority of Clarencieux and Norroy, Two Kings at Arms, Volume 1, pp. 117-18.
• https://books.google.com/books?id=7Z9HDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=john+barlow+christian+barley&source=bl&ots=x0cVH0Q-ep&sig=XzGosRjBn5HbasYpDlBLZ3574O8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjYw8-Dmc3SAhVB94MKHSVgC-U4ChDoAQgZMAA#v=onepage&q=john%20barlow%20christian%20barley&f=false Merchants and Explorers: Roger Barlow, Sebastian Cabot, and Networks of Atlantic Exchange 1500-1560] (2016), pp. 10-12