John Bowle (died 9 October 1637) was an English churchman and

bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

. A native of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, he was educated at

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 ...

, where he obtained a fellowship. He proceeded M.A. (1603), D.D. (1613), and was incorporated M.A. of Oxford on 9 July 1605, and D.D. on 11 July 1615. He was household chaplain to

Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612) was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart period, Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury ser ...

, and attended him through his last illness in 1612. Bowle held at one time the living of both Bradfield and

Tilehurst Tilehurst is a village on the western outskirts of the town of Reading, Berkshire, Reading in the county of Berkshire, England. It extends from the River Thames in the north to the A4 road (England), A4 road in the south. The village is partl ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He became dean of Salisbury in July 1620, preached before the king and parliament on 3 February 1621, and was elected bishop of Rochester on 14 December 1629. He died on 9 October 1637, and his body was interred in

St. Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. Archbishop

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I of England, Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Caroline era#Religion, Charles I's religious re ...

, in his account of his archiepiscopate addressed to Charles I for 1637, complained that Bowle had been ill for three years before his death, and had neglected his diocese.

Works

He was the author of a ''Sermon preached at Flitton in the countie of Bedford at the funerall of Henrie rey Earle of Kent'', London, 1614, and of a ''Concio ad ... Patres et Presbyteros totius Provinciæ Cantuar. in Synodo Londini congregates, habita . . . 1620, Jan. 31'', London, 1621.

Family

Bowle married Bridget, a sister of Sir George Copping, 'of the crown office,' by whom he had a son (Richard) and a daughter (Mary).

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowle, John Year of birth missing 1637 deaths Clergy from Lancashire People from Bradfield, Berkshire People from Tilehurst Bishops of Rochester Deans of Salisbury Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge 17th-century Church of England bishops 16th-century Anglican theologians 17th-century Anglican theologians