Edward Gee (1657–1730) was an English churchman, known as a controversialist, and later successively

Dean of Peterborough The Dean of Peterborough is the head of the chapter at Peterborough Cathedral. On the Dissolution of Peterborough Abbey in 1539 and the abbey-church's refoundation as a cathedral for the new bishop and diocese of Peterborough, care for the abbey ...

and

Dean of Lincoln The Dean of Lincoln is the head of the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral in the city of Lincoln, England in the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln. Christine Wilson was installed as Dean on 22 October 2016.

Life

The son of George Gee of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, a shoemaker, he was baptised at

Manchester Collegiate Church Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the ...

on 29 August 1657. After attending

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

, he was admitted a sub-sizar at

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

, on 9 May 1676. He graduated B.A. in 1679 and M.A. in 1683. He was incorporated in his master's degree at Oxford 4 March 1684. Subsequently, he is styled D.D., a

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonl ...

from 1695. He took a prominent part in the anti-Catholic controversy towards the end of James II's reign. In May 1688 he was appointed rector of

St Benet's, Paul's Wharf The Church of St Benet Paul's Wharf is a Welsh Anglican church in the City of London. Since 1556, it has also been the official church of the College of Arms in which many officers of arms have been buried. In 1666 it was destroyed in the Grea ...

, London, and soon after he was called chaplain in ordinary to

William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...

and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III & II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Mary was the eldest daughter of James, Duke of York, and his first wife ...

. On 6 December 1701 he was installed prebendary of Westminster. Twenty years afterwards, on 9 December 1721, he was instituted dean of Peterborough, but he resigned that office for the deanery of Lincoln, to which he was presented by the crown on 30 March 1722. A few days later he was installed prebendary of Lincoln. At the time of his death he was also incumbent of

St Margaret's, Westminster The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster a ...

, and rector of

Chevening Chevening House () is a large country house in the parish of Chevening in Kent, in Southeast England. Built between 1617 and 1630 to a design reputedly by Inigo Jones and greatly extended after 1717, it is a Grade I listed building. The surr ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. He died on 1 March 1730, and was buried in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Works

He wrote the following quarto tracts: * ''Veteres Vindicati, in an expostulatory letter to Mr. Sclater of Putney'', 1687. * ''An Answer to the Compiler of the Nubes Testium'', 1688. * ''A Vindication of the Principles of the Author of the Answer'', 1688. * ''The Primitive Fathers no Papists'', 1688. * ''The Judgment of Archbishop Cranmer concerning the People's Right to, and discreet Use of, the Holy Scriptures'', 1689. * ''A Letter to Father Lewis Sabran'' (on Invocation of Saints), 1688. Against

Louis de Sabran Louis de Sabran or Lewis Sabran (1 March 1652 – 22 January 1732) was a French Jesuit. He was associated with the court of James II of England and engaged in vigorous theological debates with both Anglican and Puritan spokesmen. Early life and ...

. * ''A Second Letter to Sabran'', 1688. * ''A Third Letter to Sabran'', 1688. * ''A Letter to the Superiours who approve and license the Popish Books in England'', 1688. * ''The Texts Examined which Papists cite out of the Bible for the Proof of their Doctrine concerning the Worship of Images and Reliques'', 1688. * ''The Texts examined concerning the Seven Sacraments'', 1688. * Part II. of the same work, 1688. * ''The Catalogue of all the Discourses published against Popery during the Reign of King James II'', 1689. Several of these are reprinted in

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's Coll ...

's '' Preservative against Popery'', and

Edward Cardwell Edward Cardwell (178723 May 1861) was an English theologian also noted for his contributions to the study of English church history. In addition to his scholarly work, he filled various administrative positions in the University of Oxford. L ...

's ''Enchiridion Theologicum''. He also published ''The Jesuit's Memorial for the intended Reformation of England: with an Introduction and some Animadversions'', 1690; it was written by

Robert Persons Robert Persons (24 June 1546 – 15 April 1610), later known as Robert Parsons, was an English Jesuit priest. He was a major figure in establishing the 16th-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus. Early life Robert Person ...

. In 1692 he printed ''Of the Improvement of Time, a Sermon'', 1692.

Family

He married, on 25 January 1703, Jane, daughter of Henry Limbrey of London and Hoddington in

Upton-Gray Upton Grey is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. History Roman times The village is on the line of an ancient Roman road, the Chichester to Silchester Way. Norman times The Grey derives from the years when the village was owned b ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, and by her had several children, whose names are recorded in the Westminster Abbey registers.

References

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Gee, Edward 1657 births 1730 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests Deans of Lincoln Deans of Peterborough Canons of Westminster