The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the great council of bishops and peers that advised ...

that authorised the appointment of

suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdiction ...

(i.e., assistant)

bishop 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 ...

s in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...

. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the diocese other than the town the diocesan bishop is named after can be dated from this act. The act named

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England, with a 2011 population of 69,570. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century monastic foundation, Taunton Castle, which later became a priory. The Normans built a castle owned by t ...

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about above sea level on a ...

, Molton, Marlborough,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

, Leicester,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

, Penrydd,

Bridgwater Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln a ...

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

, Penrith,

Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-upon-Tweed (), sometimes known as Berwick-on-Tweed or simply Berwick, is a town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, and the northernmost town in England. The 2011 United Kingdom census recor ...

, St Germans and the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

as specific suitable suffragan sees. This act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The repeal by the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1969 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It implemented recommendations contained in the first report on statute law revision made by the Law Commission. The enactments which were repealed (whether ...

of section 2 of the

Act of Supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the ...

(1 Eliz 1 c 1) (1558) does not affect the continued operation, so far as unrepealed, of the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534. Since 1898, notwithstanding anything contained in the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 it has been lawful to nominate, present and appoint as suffragan bishop persons already consecrated as a bishop and, in that case, the letters patent presenting them do not require their consecration. The ''Dioceses Measure 1978'' concerns petitions to make appointments under this act Until 1898, men already in episcopal orders were sometimes made

assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case th ...

s instead.

Provisions

Section 2

In this section, the words from "and have such capacitie" to the end were repealed b
section 15(2)(a)
of the

Dioceses Measure 1978 In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. This repeal does not invalidate any commission given to a suffragan bishop which was in force immediately before the commencement of that Measure (s. 15(3)). Section 15(4) provides for such commissions to continue in force until the date on which the suffragan bishop to whom the commission was given ceases to hold that office, or the date on which the commission is revoked by the bishop of the diocese, whichever first occurs. So long as any such commission remains in force so much of section 2 of the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 as is repealed by 15(2)(a) of that Measure continues, notwithstanding the repeal, to apply to the suffragan bishop to whom the commission was given (s. 15(5)).

Section 4

In this section, the words from "nor use" to the end were repealed by section 15(2)(b) of the

. This repeal does not invalidate any commission given to a suffragan bishop which was in force immediately before the commencement of that Measure (s. 15(3)). Section 15(4) provides for such commissions to continue in force until the date on which the suffragan bishop to whom the commission was given ceases to hold that office, or the date on which the commission is revoked by the bishop of the diocese, whichever first occurs. So long as any such commission remains in force so much of section 2 of the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 as is repealed by 15(2)(b) of that Measure continues, notwithstanding the repeal, to apply to the suffragan bishop to whom the commission was given (s. 15(5)).

Section 6

In this section, the words "of the bishop to whom he shall be suffragan" were substituted for the words "where he shall have comyssyon" by section 15(6) of the

Section 7

This section was repealed by Part V of Schedule 1 to the

Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977 The Statute Law (Repeals) Act 1977 (c 18) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. It implemented recommendations contained in the eighth report on statute law revisio ...

1534 titles

Those titles mandated by the 1534 Act currently in use as suffragan sees today are indicated in bold type:

Other suffragan titles

Since the passage of the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888, it has been lawful to create suffragan sees named for other towns. These have so far included (those titles currently in use as suffragan sees today are indicated in bold type): * Bishop of Aston (Birmingham, 15 July 1954) * Bishop of Barking (Chelmsford; initially St Albans) * Bishop of Barrow-in-Furness (Carlisle, 6 April 1889) * Bishop of Basingstoke (Winchester) * Bishop of Beverley (York) * Bishop of Birkenhead (Chester) * Bishop of Bolton (Manchester, 8 February 1984) * Bishop of Bradford (Leeds, 20 April 2014) * Bishop of Bradwell (Chelmsford, 20 December 1967) * Bishop of Brixworth (Peterborough, 26 July 1988) * Bishop of Buckingham (Oxford, 22 November 1913) * Bishop of Burnley (Blackburn; initially Manchester) *

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

(Worcester; ''now a diocese'') * Bishop of Crediton (Exeter) * Bishop of Croydon (Southwark; initially Canterbury) *

Bishop of Derby The Bishop of Derby is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Derby in the Province of Canterbury.''Crockford's Clerical Directory'', 100th edition, (2007), Church House Publishing. . The diocese was formed from part of the Diocese of ...

(Southwell; ''now a diocese'') *

Bishop of Doncaster The Bishop of Doncaster is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the town of Doncaster in South Yorkshire; the See was erect ...

(Sheffield, 4 February 1972) *

Bishop of Dorchester The modern Bishop Suffragan of Dorchester in the Diocese of Oxford, usually contracted to Bishop of Dorchester, is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The B ...

(Oxford, 2 February 1939) * Bishop of Dorking (Guildford; initially Winchester) * Bishop of Dudley (Worcester, 24 October 1973) * Bishop of Dunwich (St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, 14 August 1934) *

Bishop of Ebbsfleet The Bishop of Ebbsfleet is a suffragan bishop who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England. From its creation in 1994 to 2022, the Bishop of Ebbsfleet served traditionist Anglo-Catholic parishes that could not ...

(Canterbury, 8 February 1994) * Bishop of Edmonton (London, 29 May 1970) *

Suffragan Bishop in Europe The Suffragan Bishop in Europe is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese in Europe (in the Province of Canterbury.) The suffragan bishop assists the diocesan Bishop in Europe in overseeing ...

(Europe) *

Bishop of Fulham The Bishop of Fulham is a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of London in the Church of England. The bishopric is named after Fulham, an area of south-west London; the see was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by Order in Council date ...

(London, 1 February 1926) * Bishop of Grimsby (Lincoln, 15 July 1935) *

Bishop of Hertford The Bishop of Hertford is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of St Albans, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The suffragan See was created by Order in Council of 5 July 1889, but remained dorm ...

(St Albans) *

Bishop of Horsham The Bishop of Horsham is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop (area bishop from 1984 to 2013) of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the market town of Horsh ...

(Chichester) * Bishop of Huddersfield (Leeds, 20 April 2014) * Bishop of Hulme (Manchester, 11 October 1923) * Bishop of Islington (London) *

Bishop of Jarrow The Bishop of Jarrow is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Durham, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the former Anglo Saxon monastery in the town of Jarrow in Tyne and ...

(Durham) *

Bishop of Kensington The Bishop of Kensington is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The Bishop of Kensington is responsible for a part of Greater London, including Kensington ...

(London) * Bishop of Kingston-upon-Thames (Southwark) * Bishop of Kirkstall (Leeds; formerly Bishop of Richmond, in Ripon diocese) * Bishop of Lancaster (Blackburn, 24 July 1936) *

Bishop of Lewes The Bishop of Lewes is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Lewes, the county town of East Sussex East Sussex i ...

(Chichester) * Bishop of Loughborough (Leicester, 12 April 2017) *

Bishop of Ludlow The Bishop of Ludlow was an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England. The See of Ludlow was erected under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888 by ...

(Hereford, 23 September 1981) * Bishop of Lynn (Norwich, 26 June 1963) *

Bishop of Maidstone The Bishop of Maidstone is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the county town of Maidstone in Kent. Canterbury suf ...

(Canterbury) *

Bishop of Middleton The Bishop of Middleton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bish ...

(Manchester, 10 August 1926) * Bishop of Plymouth (Exeter, 21 November 1922) * Bishop of Ramsbury (Salisbury, 24 October 1973) *

Bishop of Reading The Bishop of Reading is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, which is within the Province of Canterbury, England. The current bishop of Reading is Olivia Graham (formerly Archdeacon of Berk ...

(Oxford) * Bishop of Repton (Derby, 18 May 1965) * Bishop of Richborough (Canterbury, 8 February 1994) *

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight of ...

(Leeds; formerly

Bishop of Knaresborough 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 ...

, in Ripon diocese) * Bishop of Selby (York, 20 December 1938) *

Bishop of Sheffield The Bishop of Sheffield is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Sheffield in the Province of York. A similar title was first created as a suffragan see in the Diocese of York in 1901. John Quirk, the only Bishop suffragan of Sh ...

(York; ''now a diocese'') *

Bishop of Sherborne The Bishop of Sherborne is an episcopal title which takes its name from the market town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. The see of Sherborne was established in around 705 by St Aldhelm, the Abbot of Malmesbury. This see was the mother diocese o ...

(Salisbury, 6 February 1925) *

Bishop of Sherwood The Bishop of Sherwood is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, in the Province of York, England. The title takes its name after the Royal forest of Sherwood Sherwood may ...

(Southwell, 18 May 1965) * Bishop of Southwark (Rochester; ''now a diocese'') * Bishop of Stafford (Lichfield) * Bishop of Stepney (London) * Bishop of Stockport (Chester) *

Bishop of Swindon The Bishop of Swindon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Bristol, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Swindon in Wiltshire. The title of Bishop of Mal ...

(Bristol; formerly

Bishop of Malmesbury The Bishop of Swindon is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Bristol, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Swindon in Wiltshire. The title of Bishop of ...

, 25 July 1927) *

Bishop of Tewkesbury The Bishop of Tewkesbury is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, but th ...

(Gloucester) * Bishop of Tonbridge (Rochester, 11 September 1958) * Bishop of Wakefield (Leeds; formerly

Bishop of Pontefract The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is now ...

, in Wakefield diocese, 27 October 1930) * Bishop of Warrington (Liverpool) * Bishop of Warwick (Coventry, 19 December 1979) *

Bishop of Whalley The Bishop of Whalley was an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a Church of England suffragan bishop; the See was created by Order in Council on 28 June 1909 (under the Suffragans Nomination Act 1888) and took its name after the large villa ...

(Blackburn; initially Manchester, 28 June 1909) * Bishop of Whitby (York, 30 July 1923) * Bishop of Willesden (London, 8 August 1911) *

Bishop of Wolverhampton The Bishop of Wolverhampton is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands; the ...

(Lichfield, 6 February 1979) *

Bishop of Woolwich The Bishop of Woolwich is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Woolwich, a suburb of the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Tw ...

(Southwark) In 2015, research by the Church's Legal Office on behalf of the Dioceses Commission uncovered fourteen "forgotten" suffragan Sees which had been erected by Orders-in-Council in 1889 but never filled.Church of England — Dormant Suffragan SeesArchived
30 May 2016, which accessed 4 March 2020) The Dioceses Commission has advised that these may be revived and filled just as any other dormant See might. By Order-in-Council dated 6 April 1889: *

Bishop of Alnwick The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

(Newcastle) *

Bishop of Bishopwearmouth The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

(Durham) * Bishop of Halifax (Leeds; formerly Wakefield) *

Bishop of Hexham The Bishop of Hexham was an episcopal title which took its name after the market town of Hexham in Northumberland, England. The title was first used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 7th and 9th centuries, and then by the Roman Catholic Church sin ...

(Newcastle) *

Bishop of Kendal The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan bishop#Anglican Churches, suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England ...

(Carlisle) *

Bishop of Rochdale The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

(Manchester) *

Bishop of Wigan The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in th ...

(Liverpool) By Order-in-Council dated 5 July 1889: * Bishop of Aylesbury (Oxford) *

Bishop of Boston The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

(Lincoln) *

Bishop of Chelsea The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in th ...

(London) *

Bishop of Cirencester The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in the d ...

(Gloucester) *

Bishop of Leominster The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 (26 Hen 8 c 14) is an Act of the Parliament of England that authorised the appointment of suffragan (i.e., assistant) bishops in England and Wales. The tradition of appointing suffragans named after a town in th ...

(Hereford) *

Bishop of Northampton The Bishop of Northampton is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Northampton in the Province of Westminster, England. The see is in the town of Northampton where the bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Our Lady and S ...

(Peterborough) *

Bishop of Oswestry __NOTOC__ The Bishop of Oswestry is a suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Lichfield who fulfils the role of a provincial episcopal visitor in the Church of England. Background Following the first ordinations of women in 1993 to the priesthood ...

(Lichfield) Further — besides that of Penrydd (now in St David's diocese), erected by the 1534 Act — six further Welsh Sees were erected following the 1888 Act: at

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

(in Llandaff diocese), Carnarvon (Bangor), Holyhead (Bangor),

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

(then in Llandaff, now a diocesan See),

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

(St Asaph) and Swansea (then in St David's, now a diocesan See as Swansea and Brecon).

References

Halsbury's Statutes ''Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales'' (commonly referred to as ''Halsbury's Statutes'') provides updated texts of every Public General Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Measure of the Welsh Assembly, or Church of England Mea ...

External links

The Suffragan Bishops Act 1534
as amended from the National Archives. {{Anglican Suffragan Bishops Episcopacy in Anglicanism Acts of the Parliament of England concerning religion Acts of the Parliament of England still in force 1534 in law 1534 in England Christianity and law in the 16th century 1534 in Christianity