Archbishop Sancroft
|
The Most Reverend and Right Honourable William Sancroft |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
William Sancroft
|
|
| Installed | 1677 |
| Term ended | 1690 |
| Predecessor | Gilbert Sheldon |
| Successor | John Tillotson |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
30 January 1617 Ufford Hall, Fressingfield, Suffolk, England |
| Died | 24 November 1693 (aged 76) Ufford Hall, Fressingfield, Suffolk, England |
| Buried | Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Fressingfield |
| Alma mater | Emmanuel College, Cambridge |
William Sancroft (30 January 1617 – 24 November 1693) was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulgence.
Sancroft was born at Ufford Hall in Fressingfield, Suffolk, son of Francis Sandcroft (1580–1647) and Margaret Sandcroft née Butcher (1594–1631). He was educated at the Bury St Edmunds free grammar school before being admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge, in September 1633 and matriculating there in 1634. He became M.A. in 1641 and fellow in 1642, but was ejected in 1649 for refusing to accept the "Engagement." He then remained abroad till the Restoration, after which he was chosen one of the university preachers, and in 1663 was nominated to the deanery of York. He became Dean of St Paul's in 1664, greatly assisting with the rebuilding after the Great Fire of London, towards which he contributed £1400. He also rebuilt the deanery, and improved its revenue.
In 1668 he was admitted Archdeacon of Canterbury upon the king's presentation, but he resigned the post in 1670. In 1677, being now prolocutor of the Convocation, he was unexpectedly advanced to the archbishopric of Canterbury, at the express wish of the King who trusted in his moderation. So unwilling was he to accept that the King only persuaded him by explaining that he had already appointed the new Dean of St Paul's. He attended Charles II upon his deathbed, and "made to him a very weighty exhortation, in which he used a good degree of freedom." He crowned King James II in 1685. Sancroft wrote with his own hand the petition presented in 1688 against the reading of the Declaration of Indulgence, which was signed by himself and six of his suffragans (collectively known as the Seven Bishops). For this they (of whom Sancroft was oldest, at 71) were all committed to the Tower of London, but were acquitted.
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