John Battely (also spelt 'Batteley') (1646–1708) was an English antiquary and clergyman,

Archdeacon of Canterbury The Archdeacon of Canterbury is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Canterbury (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury). Like other archdeacons, they are an administrator in the diocese at large (having oversight of parish ...

1688–1708. He was the author of two antiquarian works published after his death: ''Antiquitates Rutupinae'' ('Antiquities of Richborough') and ''Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad Annum MCCLXXII Perductae'' ('Antiquities of St. Edmundsbury to 1272'). John Battely was the brother of Nicholas Battely, who edited

William Somner William Somner (1598–1669) was an English antiquarian scholar, the author of the first dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon language. Life He was baptised in the church of St. Margaret, Canterbury, on 5 November 1598, but according to a statement of ...

's ''Cantuaria sacra'', the first account of the antiquities of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

. John Battely was born on 11 November 1646 in the Parish of St. James,

Bury St. Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: . P ...

. His father, Nicholas Battely, was an apothecary. After his education at the King Edward VI Grammar School, Bury St. Edmunds, he was admitted to

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

in 1662 (B.A. 1665–6; Fellow, 1668; M.A. 1669; D.D. 1684). He was ordained at Ely in 1675 and became domestic chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft and subsequently to Archbishop Tillotson.C. S. Knighton, 'Batteley, John (bap. 1646, d. 1708)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 200

retrieved 9 January 2010 Battely was Rector of Hunton in Norfolk 1682–1684, and on 19 November 1684 he became Rector of Adisham in Kent. It was probably at this time that Battely began his research at

Richborough Castle Richborough Castle is a Roman Saxon Shore fort better known as Richborough Roman Fort. It is situated in Richborough near Sandwich, Kent. Substantial remains of the massive fort walls still stand to a height of several metres. It is ...

. In 1687, however, Battely returned to East Anglia. He was made

Archdeacon of Suffolk The Archdeacon of Suffolk is a senior cleric in the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. The archdeacon is responsible for the disciplinary supervision of the clergy in the territory of the archdeaconry. History The archdeaconry of Sudbury s ...

, which entitled him to a stall at

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

and gave him nominal pastoral oversight of his native county. He was installed as Archdeacon of

on 24 March 1688 and became Master of the Eastbridge Hospital in the same year. On 5 November 1688 (the same day William of Orange landed at Torbay), he became a canon of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

(Stall I), and on 10 November he subscribed to the Articles of Religion. John Battely died on 10 October 1708 and his papers were inherited by his nephew Oliver Battely. In 1711 Oliver published the work on Richborough, before co-operating with Sir James Burrough to print the work on Bury St. Edmunds in 1745.

Sources

*John Battely (ed. Oliver Battely), ''Antiquitates Rutupinae'' (Oxford, 1745) *John Battely (ed. Oliver Battely), ''Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad Annum MCCXXII Perductae'' (Oxford, 1745)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battely, John 1646 births 1708 deaths Archdeacons of Canterbury Archdeacons of Suffolk 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers 17th-century English antiquarians 18th-century English antiquarians