Joseph Wilcocks (19 December 1673 – 28 February 1756) was an English churchman,

bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire. The see's centre of governan ...

, and bishop of Rochester and

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. Wilcocks was the son of Joseph Wilcocks, a physician of

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. He entered Merchant Taylors' School on 11 September 1684, and matriculated from St John's College, Oxford, on 25 February 1692. From 1692 until 1703 he held a demyship at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

and a fellowship from 1703 until 15 February 1722. He graduated B.A. on 31 October 1695, M.A. on 28 June 1698, and B.D. and D.D. on 16 May 1709. Joseph Wilcocks has a newspaper, the Upper Canada Guardian, a publication that was all over Upper Canada. He won the 1812 election over Henry Ecker, right before the war of 1812 struck. He was chaplain to the English factory at Lisbon in 1709, and to the English embassy, and on his return was appointed chaplain-in-ordinary to

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and preceptor to the daughters of the

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. On 11 March 1721 he was installed a prebendary of Westminster, and on 3 December 1721 he was consecrated bishop of Gloucester, holding his stall '' in commendam''. On 21 June 1731 he was installed dean of Westminster, and on the same day was nominated bishop of Rochester. He refused further promotion, declining the

archbishopric of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

, and devoted himself to completing the west front of

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. He died on 28 February 1756, and was buried in the Abbey on 9 March under the

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, where his son erected a monument to his memory in 1761. He married Jane (died 27 March 1725), the daughter of John Milner, British consul at Lisbon. He published several sermons.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilcocks, Joseph 1673 births 1756 deaths Bishops of Gloucester Bishops of Rochester Deans of Westminster Canons of Westminster 18th-century Church of England bishops 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians