John Fordham personal arms are impaled with those of his bishopric

John Fordham (died 1425) was

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

and

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with a section of nor ...

. Fordham was keeper of the privy seal of

Prince Richard Prince Richard may refer to: * Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York (1473–) * Prince Richard von Metternich (1829–1895), from the German House of Metternich * Prince Richard of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg (1934–2017), from the German House of ...

from 1376 to 1377 and Dean of Wells before being named

Lord Privy Seal The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. Originally, ...

in June 1377. He held that office until December 1381.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 94 Fordham was nominated to Durham on 9 September 1381 and consecrated on 5 January 1382. He was translated to Ely on 3 April 1388.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 242 Fordham briefly served as

Lord High Treasurer The post of Lord High Treasurer or Lord Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State ...

in 1386.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 106 In 1407 Fordham appointed Maurice Plank to be master of the Grammar Scholars in

Wisbech Wisbech ( ) is a market town, inland port and civil parish in the Fenland district in Cambridgeshire, England. In 2011 it had a population of 31,573. The town lies in the far north-east of Cambridgeshire, bordering Norfolk and only 5 miles ...

, the bishops of Ely were for many years the official 'Visitors' to Wisbech Grammar School which claims to date to 1379. Fordham died on 19 November 1425.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 244 His executors, listed in 1430, were Robert Wetheryngsete, John Bernard, William Derby, Thomas Reynald & Robert Crowe. First entry, with "Cant" in the margin.

Citations

References

* 1425 deaths Deans of Wells Bishops of Durham 14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Lords Privy Seal Lord High Treasurers of England Year of birth unknown {{BishopofDurham-stub