James Phillott (20 February 1750 – 11 June 1815) was

Archdeacon of Bath The Archdeacon of Bath is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells. The post, having oversight over the archdeaconry of Bath, has existed since the twelfth century. The archdeaconry includes five deanerie ...

from 28 July 1798 until his death. Phillott was educated at

The Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, matriculating in 1766 and graduating B.A. in 1769. He held livings at Bath and

Stanton Prior Stanton Prior is a small village within the civil parish of Marksbury, set in Duchy of Cornwall countryside between Newton St Loe and Marksbury, west from the UK city of Bath, Somerset. Stanton Prior derives its name from the Old English 'S ...

. He was a

Prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of th ...

of Wells from 1791 onwards."A concise history of the cathedral church of Saint Andrew, in Wells; Davis, J (verger, p106: Shepton Mallett, W.J. Quartley, 1814 His first wife Sarah King died in 1801, leaving three children, including Charles (died 1831), a prominent

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Becaus ...

in Bath. He married secondly in 1808 Lady Frances St Lawrence, daughter of

Thomas St Lawrence, 1st Earl of Howth Thomas St Lawrence, 1st Earl of Howth (10 May 1730 – 29 September 1801) was Anglo-Irish peer and lawyer. Howth was the eldest son of William St Lawrence, 14th Baron Howth and Lucy Gorges, daughter of General Richard Gorges and his first wife Nic ...

and Isabella King. She died in 1842. Jane Austen, who knew the couple, commented caustically on their marriage in a letter to her sister, suggesting that Phillott was only interested in Lady Frances's rank and title, while she, aged about forty-five, was desperate for a husband, and was prepared to settle for a widowed clergyman approaching sixty. Frances did not, it seems, gain much financially from the marriage: her husband left her only £200, the rest of his property being divided between his three children by his first wife.

Notes

1750 births Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford 18th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Bath 1815 deaths {{Canterbury-archdeacon-stub