John Bettesworth (1677 – 17 December 1751) was Dean of the Arches. Bettesworth was the son of Robert Bettesworth, a saddler, and was born in

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

, Hampshire. He was admitted to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

in 1696 (although he did not matriculate until 1699), graduating

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

1700,

LL.B. A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

1701,

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

1706. He was appointed as

Dean of the Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribun ...

and Master of the

Prerogative Court A prerogative court is a court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities reserved to the sovereign were exercised. In England in the 17th century, a clash developed between these courts, representing the crown's a ...

of Canterbury in 1710, serving in both capacities until his death in 1751. He married in 1711 Elizabeth Jones, the daughter of Revd John Jones, rector of

Selattyn Selattyn is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Selattyn and Gobowen, in the Shropshire district, in the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England. It is on the England–Wales border, close to Oswestry. In 1961 the parish h ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

, and sister-in-law of

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's ...

, Bishop of London. He had a son, also John Bettesworth, who became Chancellor of London and another son, Edmund, who became vicar of

Highworth Highworth is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, England, about north-east of Swindon town centre. The 2021 Census recorded a population of 8,258. The town is notable for its Queen Anne and Georgian buildings, dating ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

. Bettesworth's coffin was discovered in 2017 beneath the floor of the mediaeval church of St Mary-at-Lambeth during refurbishment of the

Garden Museum The Garden Museum (formerly known as the Museum of Garden History) in London is Britain's only museum of the art, history and design of gardens. The museum re-opened in 2017 after an 18-month redevelopment project. The building is largely the ...

References

1751 deaths 1677 births Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Lawyers from Hampshire Burials at St Mary-at-Lambeth Canterbury Cathedral {{England-bio-stub