John Bowle (died 9 October 1637) was an English churchman and bishop of Rochester. A native of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

, he was educated at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he obtained a fellowship. He proceeded M.A. (1603), D.D. (1613), and was incorporated M.A. of Oxford on 9 July 1605, and D.D. on 11 July 1615. He was household chaplain to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and attended him through his last illness in 1612. Bowle held at one time the living of both Bradfield and

Tilehurst Tilehurst is a suburb of the town of Reading in the English county of Berkshire. It lies to the west of the centre of Reading, and extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road in the south. The suburb is partly within the boundarie ...

in Berkshire. He became dean of Salisbury in July 1620, preached before the king and parliament on 3 February 1621, and was elected bishop of Rochester on 14 December 1629. He died on 9 October 1637, and his body was interred in St. Paul's Cathedral. Archbishop

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

, in his account of his archiepiscopate addressed to Charles I for 1637, complained that Bowle had been ill for three years before his death, and had neglected his diocese.

Works

He was the author of a ''Sermon preached at Flitton in the countie of Bedford at the funerall of Henrie rey Earle of Kent'', London, 1614, and of a ''Concio ad ... Patres et Presbyteros totius Provinciæ Cantuar. in Synodo Londini congregates, habita . . . 1620, Jan. 31'', London, 1621.

Family

Bowle married Bridget, a sister of Sir George Copping, 'of the crown office,' by whom he had a son (Richard) and a daughter (Mary).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowle, John Year of birth missing 1637 deaths Clergy from Lancashire People from Bradfield, Berkshire People from Tilehurst Bishops of Rochester Deans of Salisbury Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 17th-century Church of England bishops 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians