Rt Rev Dr Anthony Sparrow DD | |
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| Bishop of Norwich | |
| In office 1676–1685 | |
| Preceded by | Edward Reynolds |
| Succeeded by | William Lloyd |
| Bishop of Exeter | |
| In office 1667–1676 | |
| Preceded by | Seth Ward |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Lamplugh |
| Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity of Cambridge | |
| In office 1664–1665 | |
| Preceded by | James Fleetwood |
| Succeeded by | Francis Wilford |
| President ofQueen's College, Cambridge | |
| In office 1662–1667 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Horton |
| Succeeded by | William Wells |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 1612 Depden,Suffolk,England |
| Died | 19 May 1685 Norwich,Norfolk |
| Resting place | Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk |
| Spouse | Susanna Orell |
| Children | 9 |
| Alma mater | Queen's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Bishop |
Anthony Sparrow (May 1612-19 May 1685) was prominent as both a theologian and academic at theUniversity of Cambridge and as a cleric in the Church of England. He was President ofQueen's College, Cambridge,Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity of Cambridge and Bishop of bothExeter andNorwich. He is known for his resistance to the imposition ofPresbyterianism byOliver Cromwell, his involvement in the conflict betweenDr Simon Patrick andKing Charles II regardingacademic freedom and the right of colleges to elect their presidents, and for his theological treatises, in particular 'A Rationale upon theBook of Common Prayer'.
Born at Depden Hall,Depden,Suffolk in 1612, he was the son of Samuel Sparrow, a wealthy farmer.[1][2][3]
He graduated with aBA degree (1628/9), followed by anMA(1632), aBD (1639) andDD (1661), all fromQueen's College, Cambridge.[4] In 1633 he was appointed a fellow of the College and over the next decade served as bothDean andBursar and taught Hebrew and Greek.[5]
On 18 April 1644 he and around 60 other fellows were ejected from their colleges byEdward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester after Parliament passed a law reforming the University. Among other things, it required fellows to be resident at their colleges, which Anthony Sparrow was not.[6][7] The reforms were contentious given the political climate of theEnglish Civil War and theRoyalist loyalties of the University. The issue of residency appears to have been an excuse to rid the University of those who refused to adoptthe Covenant which was part of theParliamentarians' efforts to enforcePresbyterianism in England.[8][9] Sparrow suffered substantial economic hardship as a result of the removal of his right to work as an academic.[10]
FollowingThe Restoration, in 1662 he was proposed for the position of President of Queen's College, but the process of appointment became embroiled in controversy around theacademic freedom of the College to elect its President. The election of the President was arranged for 6 May 1662, Anthony Sparrow being one of two candidates. He was supported by the seniorfellows, while his opponent,Dr Simon Patrick, his junior in the College, was nominated by junior fellows. The College Statutes stated that the fellows should elect the President, but midway through the election procedure amandamus from theKing was read out advising that Sparrow was appointed. He accepted, but Dr Patrick objected leading to a controversy that endured for two years. The King appointed a Commission to investigate the matter, but Patrick alleged that his supporters were not given proper opportunity to present arguments in his favour. He challenged the process in court, but after two years of litigation the court remained evenly divided on the matter and Patrick dropped the case.[11]
Anthony Sparrow served as President of the College until 1667 and was Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1664-5.[12]
He was ordained as a priest atEly on 22 February 1634 or 1635, but did not take up a parish as he was already a fellow of Queen's College.
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In 1647, following his expulsion from Cambridge,Joseph Hall, the Bishop of Norwich, appointed him asRector ofHawkedon,Suffolk. However, after only five weeks he was driven out for using theBook of Common Prayer, a practice which had been abolished following the reforms resulting from theEnglish Civil War.[13]
From 1644 to 1660 he was effectively prevented from working as either apriest or academic. According to J. H. Grey, author of a history of Queen's College, 'during this period...he skulk'd from one place to another.' However, Augustus Jessop, in his history of the Diocese of Norwich, claims that that he lived on his family estate at Depden.[14]
During this time, in 1655, he published a collection of his own articles on the subject ofAnglicandoctrine and orders of service under the title 'A Rationale upon the Book of Common Prayer' which remained banned throughout the period ofOliver Cromwell's rule in England. It subsequently became an influential work that is still in print to this day. (See Amazon.com)[15][16]
Following The Restoration he began his rise through the ranks of theclergy commencing in 1660 with his reinstatement as Rector of Hawkendon, a position he retained until 1667.[17] On 7 August of the same year he was appointed Archdeacon ofSudbury inSuffolk and a year later, on 15 April 1663,Canon and 2ndPrebend ofEly inCambridgeshire, serving there until he was raised to Bishop in 1667.[18][19][20] In the 1660's he also served asChaplain toKing Charles II and held a preachership atBury St. Edmunds.[21][22]
On 3 November 1667 he was consecratedBishop of Exeter inDevon where he served until 1676 when he was translated toBishop of Norwich inNorfolk. He retained that position until his death inNorwich on 19 May 1685.[23][24]
In 1645 Anthony Sparrow married Susanna Orell.[25] They had nine children. He died at Norwich on 19 May 1685 leaving several daughters as his co-heiresses, one of whom was Joan Sparrow (d. 1703), wife of Edward Drew (d. 1714) ofThe Grange, Broadhembury, Devon, a Canon ofExeter Cathedral.[26][27] He died in Norwich on 29 May 1685 and is buried in theNorwich Cathedral.[28]
| Church of England titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Bishop of Exeter 1667–1676 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Bishop of Norwich 1676–1685 | Succeeded by |
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