Christopher Wren B.D. (17 September 1589 – 29 May 1658) was an Anglican cleric who was

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilated to the deane ...

from 1635 until his death, and the father of the prominent architect

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

Family

He was the son of Francis Wren, citizen and mercer of London, and Suzanna Wiggington. His father was the only son of Cuthbert Wren, of Monk's-Kirby, in the county of Warwick, second son of William Wren, of Sherborne-House and of Billy-Hall in the bishopric of Durham. He was descended from an ancient family which came originally from Denmark. His parents lived in the parish of St. Peter’s Cheap in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

, and had three children: a daughter Anna, and two sons; Matthew, born 1585, and Christopher, born 1589. His brother

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...

preceded him as

. Christopher Wren married Mary Cox. Their son was the famed architect Sir

Career

He was educated at

Merchant Taylors School Small things grow in harmony , established = , closed = , coordinates = , pushpin_map = , type = Independent day school , religion = Church o ...

, London, and

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

and graduated BA in 1609, MA in 1613, BD in 1620. In 1630 he was created

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite ...

, where his brother

was president. He was appointed: *Chaplain to Bishop

Lancelot Andrewes Lancelot Andrewes (155525 September 1626) was an English bishop and scholar, who held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chic ...

*Chaplain to King Charles I, 1628 *Rector of

Fonthill Bishop Fonthill Bishop is a small village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, England, to the north of the River Nadder, Nadder valley and south of Warminster. The Fonthill Park estate extends into the south of the parish. Landsc ...

, Wiltshire, 1620 *Rector of

East Knoyle East Knoyle is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Wiltshire, in the south-west of England, just west of the A350 road, A350 and about south of Warminster and north of Shaftesbury, Dorset. It was the birthplace of the arch ...

, Wiltshire, 1623 *Registrar of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

, 1634 *

Dean of Wolverhampton The Dean of Wolverhampton was the head of the chapter of Canons at St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton until the chapter was disestablished in 1846. The collegiate church was, until that point, a Royal Peculiar falling outside of the dio ...

, 1639 *Rector of

Great Haseley Great Haseley is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England. The village is about southwest of Thame. The parish includes the hamlets of Latchford, Little Haseley and North Weston and the house, chapel and park of Rycote. The pa ...

, Oxfordshire, 1639 He was appointed

in 1635. When Parliamentary forces occupied

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history. The original cast ...

, he refused to give the keys of the Chapel to Captain Fogg. Captain Fogg broke open the treasury and plundered it. Wren managed to preserve the records of the Order of the Garter, and King Edward III's sword.

Death

Christopher Wren died at

Bletchingdon Bletchingdon (also known as Bletchington) is a village and civil parish north of Kidlington and southwest of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. Bletchingdon parish includes the hamlet of Enslow just over west of the village. The 2011 Census r ...

, Oxfordshire on 29 May 1658.

Family

Career

Death

Notes

Further reading