William
"Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield"
Overton
Born in Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England
Ancestors 
Son of Guthlake Overton MP
and Olive (Browne) Overton
Husband of
Margaret (Barlow) Overton
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Father of
Valentine Overton and Susan (Overton) Playsted
Died
at about age 84
in Eccleshall, Staffordshire, England
Profile last modified
| Created 18 Feb 2011
This page has been accessed 2,788 times.
William Overton was a member of the aristocracy in England.
Contents |
Biography
- William Overton, fifth son of Guthlake and Olive (Browne) Overton, was born in 1525 in London, England. [1]
Education
- William graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford, B.A. in 1547 and M.A. in 1553; in the latter degree he was incorporated at Cambridge in 1562. [2] He received his Doctor of Divinity degree in Feb. 1565–6. [2]
Churches
- "He became in 1553 rector of Balcombe, Sussex, and vicar of Eccleshall, Staffordshire. The rectory of Swinnerton, Staffordshire, was conferred on him in 1555. In 1559 he was installed prebendary of Winchester. Other benefices conferred on him in early life were Upham and Nurstling (both in 1560), Exton (1561), Cotton (1562), and Buriton (1569). In 1563 he became canon of Chichester.... He received the treasurership of Chichester Cathedral in 1567, a canonry at Salisbury in 1570, besides becoming rector of Stoke-upon-Trent and of Hanbury. Finally, in 1579, he was promoted to the bishopric of Coventry and Lichfield. He is generally spoken of as bishop of Lichfield, but at that time Coventry was not only joined with Lichfield, but also took the first place in the title. He held the see for nearly thirty years, residing at Eccleshall Castle, the country seat of the bishops..." [2]
Death
- "He died on 9 April 1609, and was buried beside both his wives in Eccleshall Church, where a tomb was erected to his memory with his effigies in his episcopal habits."
Marriages
- William Overton married 1st "Margaret, the eldest daughter of William Barlow, bishop of Chichester." [2] They had Susan (Barlow) Playsted and Valentine Barlow (1565 - 1646). [3] He married 2nd "Mary, daughter of Edward Bradstock by Elizabeth Scrimshaw, a descendant of Sir John Talbot." [2]
Possible Children
Overton did not appear to leave a will. He presented a Valentine Overton as Prebendiary of Tarvin at Lichfield Cathedral in 1592/3, which provides a connection between the two. [4]
This must have been Valentine (Valentyne) Overton who was 16 when he matriculated 17 Nov 1581, and was MA 9 July 1590 at Magdalen Hall, Oxford. He was canon of Lichfield 1593, and Archdeacon of Derby 1603. [5]
A Rev. Valentine Overton was Rector of Bedworth from c,1569 to his death in 1646, who probably was not the same Valentine as above, possibly his father?[6]
My guess is William had a son ValentineOverton-790 - he was Rector of Bedworth. This Valentine he had a son Valentine Overton-2092 , who was the canon of Lichfield installed by Bishop Overton and Archdeacon of Derby.
Alternately, the visitation of Sussex in 1633/4 says that Susan Overton, who married Thomas Playsted, was the sole heiress of William Overton, Bishop of Coventry & Lichfield.[7]
Sources
- ↑ The Overton Family, Ancestral to Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and other New England settlers: Parentage of William Overton, Bishop of Coventry, TAG Vol 35, pages 182-184
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Dictionary of National Biography, Vol 42
- ↑ William Overton, Bishop (Wikipedia) but note statement about children is unsourced on Wikipedia
- ↑ The Cheshire Sheaf p.303
- ↑ http://www.british-history.ac.uk/alumni-oxon/1500-1714/pp1084-1103
- ↑ The Cheshire Sheaf p.303
- ↑ The visitations of the county of Sussex made and taken in the years 1530, Thomas Benolte, Clarenceux king of arms; and 1633-4 by John Philipot, Somerset herald, and George Owen, York herald, for Sir John Burroughs, Garter, and Sir Richard St. George, Clarenceux published 1905 page 139 retrieved through archive.org
- Stott, Clifford L., In search of "Mr." Overton: the Ancestry of Rev. Valentine Overton and His Connections to New England Immigrants Rev. Peter Bulkeley, Elizabeth (St. John) Whiting, Martha (Bulkeley) Mellowes, Olive (Welby) Farwell, Rev. Thomas James, Daniel Clark, Rev. Josias Clark, Isabel (Overton) Huit, Elizabeth (Bulkeley) (Whittingham) Hough, William Quarles, and Joanna (Quarles) Smith, NEHGR Vol 172, Summer 2018, pp 221 - 237
- Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol 42, by John Henry Overton, database online, WikiSource, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
- The Overton Family of Swineshead, Lincolnshire, by John G. Hunt, B.S.C., published by The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .), TAG Vol 36, page 162
- The Overton Family, Ancestral to Rev. Peter Bulkeley, and other New England settlers: Parentage of William Overton, Bishop of Coventry, by John G. Hunt, published by The American Genealogist. New Haven, CT: D. L. Jacobus, 1937-. (Online database. AmericanAncestors.org. New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2009 - .), TAG vol 35, pages 182 - 184, citing Alumni Cantabrigienses and others
- William Overton, Bishop, database online, Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License
- Source: #S-2128072779 Ancestry Family Trees
- Stott, Clifford L., In Search of “Mr.” Overton: The Ancestry of Rev. Valentine Overton and His Connections to New England Immigrants, The New England Historical & Genealogical Register (NEHGS, Boston, Mass., Fall 2018) Vol. 172, WN 688, Page 326-30.
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The same 2018 article in NEHGR by Clifford L. Stott, shows that Rev Valentine Overton did hold all those ecclesiastical offices.
He did have a son named Valentine, who did not go into the service of the church.
The article is over 16 pages, full of footnotes to primary documents, and says at the end "to be continued". We will have to wait until the fall quarterly issue of The Register for more details on Valentine. This first article covers his ancestors, and proof that he is the son of Richard not of Bishop William.
(Note) Richard died in June 1581, when Valentine was still at college. Valentine's uncle the bishop helped him before and after the death of Valentine's father Richard.
There is way too much in the article to summarize it. Hoping other descendants get it.
That would make Richard and Bishop William brothers, and would make Bishop William Overton Valentine's uncle. Stott avers that Bishop William had only one child, the daughter Susan.