Gilbert Bourne

The Right Reverend Gilbert Bourne
Bishop of Bath and Wells
Church	Church of England and Roman Catholic
See	Diocese of Bath and Wells
In office	1554–1559
Predecessor	William Barlow
Successor	Gilbert Berkeley
Personal details
Died	10 September 1569 Silverton, Devon
Previous post	Archdeacon of Bedford

Gilbert Bourne (date of birth unknown; d. 10 September 1569 at Silverton, Devon) was the last Roman Catholic Bishop of Bath and Wells, England.

Bourne was son of Philip Bourne, of Worcestershire. Entering the University of Oxford in 1524, he became a Fellow of All Souls in 1531, proceeded in Arts in 1532, and in 1543 was admitted to the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, having in 1541 been named prebendary of Worcester, on the suppression of the old monastic chapter there.

Moving to London in 1545, Bourne became a prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, and in 1549 Archdeacon of Bedford with the benefice of rector of High Ongar in Essex. At the time, the holding of such preferments involved acceptance of the Church of England as brought into being under King Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. Soon after Queen Mary's accession, while preaching at St Paul's Cross, Bourne narrowly escaped a dagger which a fanatic hurled at him on hearing him allude to Bishop Edmund Bonner's recent sufferings under the previous reign. On being appointed to the Bishopric of Bath and Wells, Bourne received absolution from Cardinal Reginald Pole, the papal legate, by letters dated 17 March 1554, from all censures incurred in the time of schism, and on 1 April was consecrated with five others by Bishop Bonner, assisted by Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall.