John Coldwell (c.1535–1596) was an English physician and bishop.

Life

He was born at

Faversham Faversham is a market town in Kent, England, from London and from Canterbury, next to the Swale, a strip of sea separating mainland Kent from the Isle of Sheppey in the Thames Estuary. It is close to the A2, which follows an ancient British t ...

. He graduated B.A. at

St. John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The ...

, in 1555, where he became a Fellow and graduated M.A. in 1558. He graduated M.D. in 1564.Francis Overend White, ''Lives of the Elizabethan bishops of the Anglican Church'' (1898), pp. 320-5. Coldwell is said to have practiced as a physician, in Kent; he corresponded with John Hall of Maidstone, the surgeon. He became

Archdeacon of Chichester The post of Archdeacon of Chichester was created in the 12th century, although the Diocese of Sussex was founded by St Wilfrid, the exiled Bishop of York, in AD 681. The original location of the see was in Selsey. The see was moved to Chichester, ...

in July 1571 and served until May 1575. He was rector of

Aldington, Kent Aldington is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is eight miles (12 km) south-east of the town of Ashford. As with the village centre, set on a steep escarpment above agricultural Romney Ma ...

in 1558, of

Tunstall, Kent Tunstall is a linear village and civil parish in Swale in Kent, England. It is about 2 km to the south-west of the centre of Sittingbourne, on a road towards Bredgar. History In 1798, Edward Hasted records that it had once been called ''Dunstal ...

in 1572, and of

Saltwood Saltwood is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. Within the parish are the small hamlets of Pedlinge and Sandling. Geography Saltwood is located immediately to the north of Hythe on the high land lo ...

in 1580. In 1581, he became

Dean of Rochester The Dean of Rochester is the head of the chapter of canons at Rochester Cathedral, the mother church of the Church of England Diocese of Rochester. The current dean is Philip Hesketh, who has served in that role since June 2016. List of deans ...

, on the recommendation of the Archbishop of Canterbury,

Edmund Grindal Edmund Grindal ( 15196 July 1583) was Bishop of London, Archbishop of York, and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Elizabeth I. Though born far from the centres of political and religious power, he had risen rapidly in the church durin ...

. He became

Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...

in 1591. His appointment was delayed by an intrigue, involving Robert Bennet as another candidate, and designed to secure from the diocese the site of

Sherborne Castle Sherborne Castle is a 16th-century Tudor mansion southeast of Sherborne in Dorset, England, within the parish of Castleton. It stands in a park which formed a small part of the Digby estate. Old castle Sherborne Old Castle () is the ruin ...

for

Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...

. He was accused of impoverishing his see; during his episcopate Sir Walter Raleigh robbed it of the castle, park, and parsonage of Sherborne, together with other possessions. A bishop, however, had little chance of keeping anything if the queen or one of her favourites wanted it. Coldwell complains bitterly of Raleigh in a letter to Henry Brook, dated 10 April 1594, and on 22 April 1596 prays

Sir Robert Cecil Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...

to tell him that owing to the conduct of "his man Mears" in keeping his "farm and arrearages" from him he could pay the his duties. He died on 14 October 1596, and was then so deeply in debt that it is said that his friends were glad to bury him "suddenly and secretly" in Bishop Wyvil's grave.

Notes

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coldwell, John 1535 births 1596 deaths Archdeacons of Chichester Bishops of Salisbury Deans of Rochester Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People from Faversham 16th-century English clergy