George Smalridge (''alias'' Smallridge; 18 May 1662 – 27 September 1719) was
Bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
(1714–1719).
Life
Smalridge was born at
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...
, son of the Sheriff of Lichfield Thomas Smalridge, George received his early education, this being completed at
Westminster School
(God Gives the Increase)
, established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560
, type = Public school Independent day and boarding school
, religion = Church of England
, head_label = Hea ...
and at
Christ Church, Oxford.
His political opinions were largely modelled on those of his friend
Francis Atterbury, with whom he was associated at Oxford and elsewhere. After being a tutor at Christ Church, he was minister of two chapels in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, and for six or seven years he acted as deputy for
William Jane
William Jane (1645–1707) was an English academic and clergyman, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford from 1680.
Life
The son of Joseph Jane, he was born at Liskeard, Cornwall, where he was baptised on 22 October 1645. He was educated at Westm ...
, the
regius professor of divinity at Oxford; his
Jacobite opinions, however, prevented him from securing this position when it fell vacant in 1707.
In 1711, he was made dean of
Carlisle Cathedral
Carlisle Cathedral is a grade-I listed Anglican cathedral in the city of Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133. It is also the seat of the Bishop of Carlisle.Tim Tatton-Brown and John ...
and canon of Christ Church, and in 1713 he succeeded Atterbury as dean of Christ Church. In the following year he was appointed
bishop of Bristol
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...
, but retained his deanery. In 1715 Smalridge refused to sign the declaration against the pretender,
James Francis Edward Stuart
James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 16881 January 1766), nicknamed the Old Pretender by Whigs, was the son of King James II and VII of England, Scotland and Ireland, and his second wife, Mary of Modena. He was Prince of Wales fro ...
, defending his action in his Reasons for not signing the Declaration. In other ways also he showed animus against the
house of Hanover
The House of Hanover (german: Haus Hannover), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house or ...
, but his only punishment was his removal from the post of
lord almoner to the king.
The bishop was esteemed by
Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIFT, ...
,
Steele
Steele may refer to:
Places America
* Steele, Alabama, a town
* Steele, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Steele, Kentucky, an unincorporated community
* Steele, Missouri, a city
* Lonetree, Montana, a ghost town originally called Steele
...
,
Whiston and other famous men of his day, while
Dr Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford D ...
declared his sermons to be of the highest class.
Works
*''Sixty Sermons, preached on Several Occasions'', 1726. Other editions 1827, 1832, 1853 and 1862.
*The Life of
Grabe[The Environs of London: Pancras 1795]
References
*
Further reading
*William Gibson, 'Altitudinarian Equivocation: George Smalridge's Churchmanship', in Gibson & Ingram, eds., ''Religious Identities in Britain, 1660-1832'', Ashgate, 2005
*Richard Sharp
'Smalridge, George (1662–1719)' ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 12 Jan 2009
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smalridge, George
1662 births
1719 deaths
People from Lichfield
Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford
Bishops of Bristol
People educated at Westminster School, London
18th-century Church of England bishops
Deans of Christ Church, Oxford
Deans of Carlisle
17th-century Anglican theologians
18th-century Anglican theologians