John Sharp | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of York | |
 | |
| Archdiocese | York |
| Installed | 1691 |
| Term ended | 1714 (death) |
| Predecessor | Thomas Lamplugh |
| Successor | Sir William Dawes, Bt. |
| Other posts | Dean of Norwich (1681–89) Dean of Canterbury (1689–91) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1645-02-16)16 February 1645 |
| Died | 2 February 1714(1714-02-02) (aged 68) |
| Buried | York Minster |
| Nationality | British |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Palmer (m.1676) |
| Education | Bradford Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Christ's College, Cambridge |
John Sharp (16 February 1645 – 2 February 1714) was anEnglishdivine who served asArchbishop of York.
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Memoirs of the Secret Services ofJohn Macky Esq.:[1]
John Archbishop of York, is Dr. Sharp, he was a Rector ofSt Giles in the Fields, in the Reign ofKing James; when, preaching warmly against Popery, he was silenced, and the Bishop of London (Dr. Compton) suspended from his office, for not turning him out. He was made byKing William Archbishop of York; andthis Queen hath made him her Lord Almoner. He is one of the greatest Ornaments of the Church of England, of great Piety and Learning; a Black Man, and fifty-five Years old.
John Sharp was born atBradford, the eldest son of Thomas Sharp, a salter, and Dorothy Weddal. His father was aPuritan who enjoyed the favour ofThomas Fairfax and inculcated in himCalvinist andLow Church doctrines, while his mother, being a strongroyalist, instructed him in the liturgy of theBook of Common Prayer.[2] He was educated atBradford Grammar School andChrist's College, Cambridge.[3]
Sharp was ordained deacon and priest on 12 August 1667 at St. Mary's, Westminster, by special faculty from theArchbishop of Canterbury,Gilbert Sheldon. He was until 1676 the chaplain and tutor to the family ofHeneage Finch, 1st Earl of Nottingham atKensington House. Sharp was incorporated at Oxford on 12 July 1669 on the occasion of the opening of the Sheldonian Theatre.[4] Meanwhile, he becamearchdeacon of Berkshire (1673), prebendary ofNorwich and rector ofSt Giles in the Fields (1675), and in 1681Dean of Norwich.[5]
In 1685, Sharp drew up for the grand jury of London their address of congratulation on the accession ofJames II, and on 20 April 1686 he becamechaplain in ordinary to the king. However, provoked by the subversion of his parishioners' faith by Roman Catholics, Sharp preached two sermons atSt. Giles's on 2 and 9 May, which were held to reflect on the king.Henry Compton,bishop of London, was ordered to suspend him Sharp from his position at St Giles. Compton refused, but in an interview atDoctors' Commons on the 18th instant privately advised Sharp to ‘forbear the pulpit’ for the present. On 1 July, by the advice ofJudge Jeffreys, he left London forNorwich; but when he returned to London in December, his petition, revised by Jeffreys, was received, and in January 1687 he was reinstated.
In August 1688, Sharp was again in trouble. After refusing to read thedeclaration of indulgence, he was summoned before theecclesiastical commission of James II. He argued that though obedience was due to the king in preference to the archbishop, yet that obedience went no further than what was legal and honest. After theGlorious Revolution he visited the imprisoned'Bloody' Jeffreys in theTower of London and attempted to bring him to penitence and consolation for his crimes.
Soon after theRevolution Sharp preached before thePrince of Orange (soon to beKing William III) and three days later before theConvention Parliament. On each occasion, he included prayers forKing James on the ground that the lords had not yet concurred in theabdication of James II. On 7 September 1689 he was nameddean of Canterbury succeedingJohn Tillotson.
The same year he was appointed a commissioner for the reform of the liturgy and the ecclesiastical courts. Sharp was seen by some as the 'lowest' of theHigh Church party and therefore the most fitting candidate to appease the concerns of theDissenters. The historianLord Macaulay later described him as ‘the highest churchman that had been zealous for comprehension and the lowest that felt a scruple about succeeding a deprived prelate'.[6] The mooted Comprehension Bill was intended to admit within the pale of theChurch a large number of theNonconformists was, eventually, allowed to drop.[7]
UnderWilliam III andMary II he succeededTillotson asDean of Canterbury in 1689, and (after declining a choice ofsees vacated bynon-jurors who were his personal friends) followedThomas Lamplugh asArchbishop of York in 1691. He made a thorough investigation of the affairs of his see, and regulated the disordered chapter ofSouthwell.[5]
He was whole-hearted in his renunciation of loyalty to James II, and a sceptic about theDivine Right of Kings. In 1701 his friend Lord Nottingham admitted to having the gravest doubts about swearing the Oath ofAbjuration. Sharp replied cheerfully that in his view "Princes hold their Crowns by the same legal right as your Lordship holds his estates, and that they may forfeit their rights as well as you".[8]
He preached at the coronation ofQueen Anne and became herLord High Almoner and confidential adviser in matters of church and state, completely eclipsingThomas Tenison, theArchbishop of Canterbury, whoselow church views made him uncongenial to the Queen. Anne, as he records, said: "that I would be her confessor, and she would be mine". His diary makes it clear that she often confided State business to him, and listened carefully to any arguments he made, even if she did not always follow his advice. His diary is a useful source for her reign, and contradicts theMemoirs ofSarah Churchill on a number of crucial points. Unlike Sarah, he maintains that the Queen was devastated by her husband's death ("we both wept"), and that her increasingly close friendship withAbigail Masham was not a secret ("talked with the Queen of Mrs. Masham, I find she has a true kindness for her").
Sarah Churchill, who prided herself on never dissembling her opinions, and eventually lost the Queen's friendship as a result, said that Sharp quickly came to know and comply with the Queen's wishes on all subjects. However, the Queen never appointed a bishop without consulting Sharp and always tried to obtain his consent to her choice. By contrast, when Archbishop Tenison, who was out of favour, protested that he had not been consulted about the appointment ofSir Jonathan Trelawny, 3rd Baronet as the newBishop of Winchester in 1707, the Queen cut him short with the cold remark that "the matter was decided", and she continued to ignore Tenison's wishes on episcopal appointments. The Queen relied on Sharp to support her policies in theHouse of Lords, although she made it clear that he could vote against her wishes if his conscience so demanded it; he was also expected to act as one of her Parliamentary "managers", lobbying not only the bishops but also thoseYorkshire MPs who were known to him personally. It is a sign of her special trust in Sharp that she confided to him her plans, which proved to be unsuccessful, to change the Ministry in late 1707.
He was a Commissioner for theUnion with Scotland in 1705–7, as was his fellow Archbishop, Tenison. He welcomed theArmenian bishops who came to England in 1713, and corresponded with thePrussian court on the possibility of the Anglican liturgy as a means of reconciliation betweenLutherans andCalvinists.[5] On the much-debated question of whether the Queen favoured theOld Pretender or theHouse of Hanover, Sharp, although he died before the matter became critical, was certain that she favoured the Hanoverian succession.
He died atBath on 2 February 1714. At his request, the Queen promotedWilliam Dawes to fill the vacant see. Sharp is buried in York Minister with a monument sculpted byFrancis Bird.[9]
His works (chiefly sermons) were published in 7 volumes in 1754, and in 5 volumes at Oxford in 1829.[5]
Sharp was married, byJohn Tillotson, at Clerkenwell in 1676 to Elizabeth Palmer ofWinthorpe,Lincolnshire. Of his fourteen children, only four survived him, including:
The English surgeonWilliam Sharp and his brother the abolitionistGranville Sharp were sons of Thomas. Sir Joshua Sharp,Sheriff of London in 1713, was the Archbishop's brother.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Norgate, Gerald le Grys (1897). "Sharp, John (1645-1714)".Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 51. pp. 408–411.| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Dean of Norwich 1681–1689 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Dean of Canterbury 1689–1691 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of York 1691–1714 | Succeeded by |
