The Dean of Wolverhampton was the head of the chapter of Canons at

St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton St Peter's Collegiate Church is located in central Wolverhampton, England. For many centuries it was a chapel royal and from 1480 a royal peculiar, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield and even the Province of Canterbury. The collegiate chu ...

until the chapter was disestablished in 1846. The collegiate church was, until that point, a

Royal Peculiar A royal peculiar is a Church of England parish or church exempt from the jurisdiction of the diocese and the province in which it lies, and subject to the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, or in Cornwall by the duke. Definition The church par ...

falling outside of the diocesan and provincial structures of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. Today, the church is district church within a team

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

led by a

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, although it has its own

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

and

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

within the team. It is now part of the Diocese of Lichfield.

List of deans

The deanery was probably established in the mid-12th century, along the lines adopted at

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

, as the church was in episcopal hands at that time. The names of earlier heads of the chapter and any deans before Peter of Blois have not survived. Samson,

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

was feudal overlord of the canons, but there is no evidence he headed the chapter and he was not ordained priest until he became bishop of Worcester. The following were deans of Wolverhampton before the post became assimilated to the deanery of Windsor, around 1480.Victoria County History - Staffordshire: Vol. 3, no. 44:
M W Greenslade, R B Pugh (Editors), G C Baugh, Revd L W Cowie, Revd J C Dickinson, A P Duggan, A K B Evans, R H Evans, Una C Hannam, P Heath, D A Johnston, Professor Hilda Johnstone, Ann J Kettle, J L Kirby, Revd R Mansfield, Professor A Saltman (1970): Victoria County History: A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, no. 44, Colleges: Wolverhampton, St Peter.

High Medieval

*bef. 1190

Peter of Blois Peter of Blois ( la, Petrus Blesensis; French: ''Pierre de Blois''; ) was a French cleric, theologian, poet and diplomat. He is particularly noted for his corpus of Latin letters. Early life and education Peter of Blois was born about 1130. Ear ...

*1203

Nicholas Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglicanism, Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the n ...

*1203 ''Deanery suspended'' *1205 Henry Fitz Geoffrey *By 1224 Giles of Erdington *1269 Theodosius de Camilla *1295 Philip of Everdon

Late Medieval

*1303 John of Everdon * 1318 Walter de Islip *1322 Godfrey of Rudham *1326 Robert of Silkstone *1328 John of Melbourne *1328 John of the Chamber *1328 Hugh Ellis *1339 Philip Weston *1368 John of Newnham *1369 Amaury Shirland *1373 Richard Postell *1394 Lawrence Allerthorpe *1406 Thomas Stanley *1410

Robert Wolveden Robert Wolveden (died 1432) was a Canon of Windsor from 1407 to 1412''Fasti Wyndesorienses'', May 1950. S. L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle and Dean of Lichfield. Career He was appointed: *Prebenda ...

*1426 William Felter *1437 John Barningham *1457 William Dudley *1477

Lionel Woodville Lionel Woodville (1447 – 23 June 1484) was a Bishop of Salisbury in England. Life Woodville was a fourth son of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg; his siblings included Elizabeth Woodville, Queen Consort fro ...

Modern era

*1479 onwards ''Deanery united to that of Windsor'' *1646–1660 ''Deanery suspended'' *1846 ''Deanery abolished (on the death of Henry Hobart)''

References

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