Walter Blandford (1616 in

Melbury Abbas Melbury Abbas is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated at the edge of the Blackmore Vale under the scarp of Cranborne Chase, south-southwest of the town of Shaftesbury. The parish includes ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England – 1675) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

academic and bishop.

Life

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

Wadham College, Oxford Wadham College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is located in the centre of Oxford, at the intersection of Broad Street, Oxford, Broad Street and Parks Road ...

at the time of the Parliamentary visitation of 1648, he compromised sufficiently to retain his position, and was appointed chaplain to

John Lovelace, 2nd Baron Lovelace John Lovelace, 2nd Baron Lovelace (February 1616 – 25 November 1670) was an English peer and Royal servant. Life John was born in Hurley, Berkshire the son of Richard Lovelace, 1st Baron Lovelace and his wife, Margaret, the daughter of Lon ...

. Later he succeeded

John Wilkins John Wilkins (14 February 1614 – 19 November 1672) was an English Anglican ministry, Anglican clergyman, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher, and author, and was one of the founders of the Royal Society. He was Bishop of Chester from 1 ...

Warden of Wadham College This is a list of Wadham College, Oxford people, including alumni, Fellows, Deans and Wardens of the College. An alphabetical list of alumni of Wadham college can be found here. Alumni Academics * Martin Aitken, archaeometrist * Amir Attaran ...

from 1659 to 1665. He was

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

of the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

in 1662, and succeeded in establishing a degree of calm after the turbulence that had accompanied the Restoration of 1660.James William Johnson, A Profane Wit: The Life of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (2004), note 4 p. 364, note 30 p. 390. He became

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

in November 1665 (his appointment being the first announcement in the first edition of the '' Oxford Gazette'', later the ''

London Gazette London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

''), and

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

in 1671. He was also appointed

Clerk of the Closet The College of Chaplains of the Ecclesiastical Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom is under the Clerk of the Closet, an office dating from 1437. It is normally held by a diocesan bishop, who may, however, remain in office after leav ...

in 1668 (until 1669) and

Dean of the Chapel Royal The Dean of the Chapel Royal, in any kingdom, can be the title of an official charged with oversight of that kingdom's chapel royal, the ecclesiastical establishment which is part of the royal household and ministers to it. England In England ...

in 1669, serving until 1675. He also had a distinguished series of positions as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

, first with John Lord Lovelace. He served as chaplain to Sir Edward Hyde, later the Earl of Clarendon and highly influential statesman. He was also one of the bishops brought into the household of Hyde's daughter, Anne, Duchess of York. Following in this position

George Morley George Morley may refer to: * George Morley (bishop) (1598–1684), English Anglican bishop * George Morley (MP) (1664–1711), English politician, MP for Hindon * George Morley (1790–1852), founder of Morley Harps * George Morley (police offic ...

, Blandford had no more success than others in heading off the Duchess's ultimate conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

.J. R. Henslowe, ''Anne Hyde, Duchess of York'' (1915?), p. 293
online text

References

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blandford, Walter 1616 births 1675 deaths Fellows of Wadham College, Oxford Wardens of Wadham College, Oxford Vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford Clerks of the Closet Deans of the Chapel Royal English chaplains Bishops of Oxford Bishops of Worcester 17th-century Church of England bishops