Henry Holbeach ( – 2 August 1551) was an English clergyman who served as the last Prior and first

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

, a suffragan bishop, and diocesan bishop of two

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

dioceses.

Life

Born as Henry Rands (or Randes) in

Holbeach Holbeach is a market town and civil parish in the South Holland District in Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and by road from Lincoln. It is on the junction of the ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, he assumed the name of his birthplace on becoming a monk at

Crowland Abbey Crowland Abbey (also spelled Croyland Abbey, Latin: ''Croilandia'') is a Church of England parish church, formerly part of a Benedictine abbey church, in Crowland in the English county of Lincolnshire. It is a Grade I listed building. History A ...

. He proceeded to

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, 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. Cam ...

(

Bachelor of Theology The Bachelor of Theology degree (BTh, ThB, or BTheol) is a three- to five-year undergraduate degree in theological disciplines and is typically pursued by those seeking ordination for ministry in a church, denomination, or parachurch organization. ...

1527, Doctor of Theology 1534), and became prior of

Buckingham College, Cambridge Buckingham College is the name of a former college of the University of Cambridge, that existed between 1428 and 1542, when it was reformed as Magdalene College. Abbot John Lytlington of Crowland Abbey was licensed by Letters Patent of King ...

. In 1536, he was elected the Prior of

, and two years later he also became the Bishop of Bristol, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Worcester. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540, the

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...

was re-established as a

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

with Holbeach becoming the first

Dean of Worcester The Dean of Worcester is the head of the Chapter of Worcester Cathedral in Worcester, England. The current dean is Peter Atkinson, who lives at The Deanery, College Green, Worcester. Crockford's on-line accessed by subscription Tuesday 11 June ...

in 1542. In 1544, he became Bishop of Rochester, and finally in 1547

Bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

.Bishops of Lincoln: 1521-1868
''British History Online''. Retrieved on 18 December 2008.

Marriage

He is believed to have been the first of the English (post reformation) bishops to have been married, his wife Joan proving his will on 5 October 1551 and he left a son Thomas Randes. According to his descendant, Cater Rand, he was "one of the compilers of the liturgy". Holbeach developed the

sweating sickness Sweating sickness, also known as the sweats, English sweating sickness, English sweat or ''sudor anglicus'' in Latin, was a mysterious and contagious disease that struck England and later continental Europe in a series of epidemics beginning ...

and died on 2 August 1551 at

Nettleham Nettleham is a large village and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, north-east from the city of Lincoln between the A46 and A158. The population of the civil parish was 3,437 at the 2011 census. History ...

(some accounts give 6 August as date of death) and was buried there on 7 August 1551.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holbeach, Henry 1551 deaths People from Holbeach Bishops of Lincoln Bishops suffragan of Bristol Bishops of Rochester 16th-century English bishops English Christian monks Anglican monks Deans of Worcester People associated with the Dissolution of the Monasteries Year of birth uncertain Deaths from sweating sickness Alumni of the University of Cambridge Priors of Worcester 1477 births 1470s births