Laurence (or Lawrence) Nowell (died 1576) was an English churchman, who became

Archdeacon of Derby The Archdeacon of Derby is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Derby. The archdeacon has responsibility for church buildings and clergy discipline in her/his archdeaconry – the Archdeaconry of Derby – which rough ...

and then

Dean of Lichfield The Dean of Lichfield is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Lichfield Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and S ...

Life

Laurence Nowell was the third son of John Nowell of Read Hall,

Read, Lancashire Read is a village in Lancashire 5 miles west northwest of Burnley and 2 miles east of Whalley. It is on the A671 which is the main road between Burnley and Clitheroe. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,419. ...

, by his second wife Elizabeth Kay of Rochdale. He was the younger brother of

Alexander Nowell Alexander Nowell (13 February 1602, aka Alexander Noel) was an Anglican priest and theologian. He served as Dean of St Paul's during much of Elizabeth I's reign, and is now remembered for his catechisms. Early life He was the eldest son of John ...

(later

Dean of St Paul's The dean of St Paul's is a member of, and chair of the Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in London in the Church of England. The dean of St Paul's is also ''ex officio'' dean of the Order of the British Empire. The current dean is Andrew Tremlett, ...

) and of Robert Nowell (later Attorney of the

Court of Wards and Liveries The Court of Wards and Liveries was a court established during the reign of Henry VIII in England. Its purpose was to administer a system of feudal dues; but as well as the revenue collection, the court was also responsible for wardship and l ...

); and a first cousin of his namesake,

Laurence Nowell Laurence (or Lawrence) Nowell (1530 – c.1570) was an English antiquarian, cartographer and pioneering scholar of Anglo-Saxon language and literature. Life Laurence Nowell was born around 1530 in Whalley, Lancashire, the second son of Alexand ...

(1530–c.1570), an antiquarian. He entered

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

, Oxford, in 1536 and received his M.A. in 1544. He was probably (but not certainly) the Laurence Nowell appointed master at the grammar school at Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire in 1546, who, following a dispute with the town's corporation, left the post in 1550, and who in November 1550 was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

by Nicholas Ridley,

Bishop of London 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 ca ...

. Having strong Protestant views, Nowell fled England when Queen Mary took the throne, eventually joining his brother Alexander in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. Nowell returned to England on the accession of

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

in 1558. That year he became

. In March 1560, he became

. He died in 1576, and is believed to be buried at Weston, Derbyshire.

Identification

Two 16th-century English cousins, one a churchman and

the other In phenomenology, the terms the Other and the Constitutive Other identify the other human being, in their differences from the Self, as being a cumulative, constituting factor in the self-image of a person; as acknowledgement of being real; h ...

an antiquary, were named Laurence Nowell. Their biographies were confused by Anthony Wood in his ''Historia et antiquitates Universitatis Oxoniensis'' (1674) and ''Athenae Oxonienses'' (1691),Harris 2022. and the error persisted through later studies, including the ''

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 ...

'' (1895), and into the twentieth century. In 1974, however,

Retha Warnicke Retha Marvine Warnicke (born 1939) is an American historian and Professor of History at Arizona State University. Career Warnicke graduated with a BA from Indiana University, magna cum laude, in 1961. She then moved on to Harvard University, wh ...

's analysis of a 1571 court case made it clear that there were two different Laurence Nowells, and their biographies have since been partially disentangled.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nowell, Laurence Year of birth missing 1576 deaths 16th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Derby Deans of Lichfield Alumni of Brasenose College, Oxford