William More was appointed

Bishop of Colchester The Bishop of Colchester is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chelmsford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The current bishop is Roger Morris, former Archdeacon of Worcester, who was consecrat ...

to deputise within the

Diocese of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now co ...

under the provisions of the

Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 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 ...

in 1536 and held the post until his death in 1541. Educated at

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

Life

He is said to have been educated at both

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

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 bec ...

. He first appears as rector of Bradwell in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, having been collated 25 April 1534. On 5 October of the same year he was further collated to the rectory of

West Tilbury West Tilbury is a village and former civil parish on the top of and on the sides of a tall river terrace overlooking the River Thames. Part of the modern town of Tilbury (including part of Tilbury Fort) is within the traditional parish of West ...

in the same county, and then held the degree S.T.B. On 20 October 1536 he was consecrated bishop of Colchester as suffragan to the Bishop of Ely. He was a master in chancery at the time. He became abbot of

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

in commendam In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

'' at an unknown date. As abbot he presented to the vicarage of Walden on 29 September 1537 and was afterwards vicar there himself till his death. On 22 March 1538 he surrendered the abbey of Walden on receiving a promise from Lord Audley to buy the

archdeaconry of Leicester The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester. History The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England � ...

for him from his predecessor for £80. He obtained the archdeaconry in 1539 and died in 1540 or 1541.

Notes

References

;Attribution 16th-century English bishops 1541 deaths Year of birth unknown Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Bishops of Colchester People from Essex {{England-bishop-stub