Henry Reginald Courtenay (27 December 1741 – 9 June 1803) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman who was

Bishop of Bristol The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England. The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire. The see ...

(1794–1797) and

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

(1797–1803).

Life

He was the eldest surviving son of Henry Reginald Courtenay, M.P., who married Catherine, daughter of

Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst, (16 November 168416 September 1775), of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, known as The Lord Bathurst from 1712 to 1772, was a British Tory politician. Bathurst sat in the English and British House of Commons ...

. He was born in the parish of St. James, Piccadilly, 27 December 1741, and admitted at

Westminster School Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...

in 1755. He went on in 1759 to

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

, where he took the degrees of B.A. 1763, M.A. 1766, and D.C.L. 1774. Having taken orders in the English church, he had rapid preferment. The rectory of Lee in Kent and the second prebendal stall in

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

were conferred upon him in 1773. In the following year he was appointed to the rectory of St. George, Hanover Square, and he vacated his stall at Rochester; but he was one of the prebendaries of Exeter from 1772 to 1794, and he retained the fourth prebend at Rochester from 1783 to 1797. Early in 1794 he was nominated to the bishopric of Bristol, his consecration taking place on 11 May; and after three years was translated to the see of Exeter (March 1797), holding the archdeaconry of Exeter ''

in commendam In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastica ...

'' from that year until his death, and retaining as long as he lived his London rectory. He died in Lower Grosvenor Street, London, 9 June 1803, and was buried in the cemetery of

Grosvenor Chapel Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair. History The foundation stone of the Grosve ...

Family

His wife, Elizabeth, eldest daughter of

Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham Lieutenant-General Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham (1714 – 19 November 1763), styled Lord Howard from 1731 to 1743, was a British nobleman and Army officer, the son of Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham. Lord Howard was appointed a de ...

, whom he married in January 1774, lived till 31 October 1815. They had two sons and four daughters. The elder son, William, who worked as clerk-assistant of the parliament, became in 1835 the

10th Earl of Devon 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

; the younger son was Thomas Peregrine Courtenay.

Memorial chimneypiece at Powderham

A monument to Bishop Reginald Courtenay exists in

Powderham Castle Powderham Castle is a fortified manor house in Exminster, Devon, south of Exeter and mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village of Kenton, where the main public entrance gates are located. It is a Grade I listed building. The park and gar ...

, seat of the

Earl of Devon Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first (after the Norman Conquest of 1066) by the Redvers family (''alias'' de Reviers, Revieres, etc.), and later by the Courtenay famil ...

, in the Victorian Dining Hall, built between 1847 and 1860, in the form of a heraldic chimneypiece. It is copied from the mediaeval chimneypiece in the

Bishop's Palace, Exeter The Bishop's Palace is the Bishop's palace, residence of the Bishop of Exeter in Exeter, Devon. It is a Grade I Listed building. History The Bishop's Palace was originally built under William Briwere, an early 13th century Bishop of Exeter. Th ...

, installed c.1485 by

Peter Courtenay Peter Courtenay may refer to: *Peter Courtenay (bishop) (c. 1432–1492), English bishop and politician *Sir Peter Courtenay (KG) (1346–1405), soldier and knight *Sir Peter Courtenay (died 1552), of Ugbrooke, Sheriff of Devon in 1548/9 *Peter Co ...

(d.1492)

, a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463) of Powderham. It was erected by

William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon William Reginald Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, PC (14 April 1807 – 18 November 1888), styled Lord Courtenay between 1835 and 1859, was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Duchy o ...

(d.1888) as a memorial to his grandfather Reginald Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter.Powderham Castle guidebook, 2011, p.10 The armorials on the lowest row are from left to right: *Arms of Bishop Reginald Courtenay: See of Exeter

impaling Impalement, as a method of torture and execution, is the penetration of a human by an object such as a stake, pole, spear, or hook, often by the complete or partial perforation of the torso. It was particularly used in response to "crimes again ...

Courtenay (Grandfather of 11th Earl of Devon) *Arms of

William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon William Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon (19 June 1777 – 19 March 1859) was a 19th-century British aristocrat and politician, who sat in the Commons before entering the House of Lords after succeeding to the title of Earl of Devon in 1835. Life ...

(d.1859), impaling the arms of his wife Hariet Leslie: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Pepys, Baronets of Juniper Hill; 2nd & 3rd: Leslie, Earls of Rothes. (Parents of 11th Earl of Devon) *Arms of 11th Earl of Devon impaling arms of his wife Elizabeth Fortescue

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Courtenay, Harold Reginald 1741 births 1803 deaths Bishops of Bristol Bishops of Exeter People educated at Westminster School, London Anglican clergy from London 18th-century Church of England bishops 19th-century Church of England bishops