5
August 1633 A.D. George
Abbot Dies—75th of 105 Archbishops of Canterbury; Hated by His Successor, Willy Laud
GEORGE ABBOT ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY
Born 1562 – Died 1633
A statue of
George Abbot stands at the top of Guildford High Street, an open book in his
hand, with Holy Trinity church behind him and The Hospital of the Blessed
Trinity in front. The monument and buildings sum up the core elements of
Abbot’s biography.
George Abbot was born in Guildford, becoming Archbishop
of Canterbury in 1610. He played a significant part in the translation of
the King James Bible, published in 1611 and founded the Hospital of
the Blessed Trinity to provide for poor men and women of Guildford. When he
died in 1633, his brother and executor, Morris Abbot, carried out his wish that
he should be buried in Holy Trinity, Guildford where his memorial is a notable
example of a renaissance style tomb
Figure 1 George Abbot School of Paul van Somer 1623; by kind
permission of the Master of Abbot's Hospital
Abbot’s
father was a cloth worker who married Alice Marsh in St Mary’s church Guildford
in 1548. They lived near the river Wey, at the lower end of the town. The
couple had six sons. The whole family is portrayed on a brass plaque in the
South east corner of Holy Trinity church. Several of the boys had notable
careers: Richard became Mayor of Guildford, Robert Master of Balliol and Bishop
of Salisbury and John a lawyer while Morris became a freeman of the Drapers’
and the Levant Companies and an MP. He was Sheriff of the City of London in
1627 and Lord Mayor in 1638.
Figure 2 Memorial to Abbot in Holy Trinity church
Having
attended the Royal Grammar school, George Abbot followed his brother Robert to
Balliol College Oxford. He gained a doctorate in divinity and published several
theological works including his thirty sermons preached on the (short) book of
Jonah (1600). More surprisingly he also wrote A Briefe Description of the
Whole World
(1599)
showing some of the energy and curiosity of contemporary merchants and seamen.
As Vice Chancellor of the University in 1603, he went to greet King James when
he travelled south on his accession to the English throne. While his brother
Robert became the king’s chaplain, George was chosen as chaplain by George
Home,
Earl of
Dunbar, a close advisor to the king. Scots Calvinists had radically reformed
the Scottish church, but with his increased power and independence, James
wished to re-establish episcopal government. When he sent the Earl of Dunbar to
Scotland in 1608, Abbot went with him. He was effective in persuading the Scots
to accept the
consecration
of bishops and was rewarded a year later with the bishopric of Coventry and
Lichfield. Almost immediately after consecration he was nominated as Bishop of
London. Obtaining agreement to a fresh, scholarly translation of the Bible had
been the main achievement of the more puritan clerics at the Hampton Court
Conference on church affairs in 1604. Six companies of scholars undertook the
work. To these men we owe the vivid richness of the King James Bible. George
Abbot served with one of two groups of Oxford men. This company worked on
crucially important books: the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles and the Book
of Revelation. The new translation was published in 1611.
The same
year, perhaps the high point of his career, George Abbot became Archbishop of
Canterbury. He was not a popular choice but Lord Dunbar had recommended him to
the king. Initially he had the support of the heir apparent, Prince Henry, who
died in 1612. Queen Anne of Denmark continued to support him until her death in
1615. The king however, was pragmatic in his beliefs and increasingly irked by
Abbot’s rigidity. Abbot sought to maintain Calvinist doctrine and good conduct.
He believed that the Church of England should unite the whole
kingdom
providing belief and practice suitable for all. He was responsible for the last
two executions for heresy in England as well as the deaths of fourteen Roman
Catholics. However, he also corresponded with the Orthodox Patriarch of
Constantinople and sponsored a monk from Mount Athos to study at Oxford. As
archbishop he played a significant part in secular government being appointed a
Privy Councillor in 1611 and serving as First Lord of the Treasury for two
years from 1618 to 1621. Abbot sought, through a charitable foundation, to
leave some practical legacy of his time as archbishop. His father had been a
cloth worker. Although the industry had been and was still important to
Guildford, it was in recession in the face of London competition, lower
standards of production and the import of new textiles. By 1618 he was
confident that he could afford to build both a “manufacture” to give training
and fresh employment
to those in
the cloth industry, and a hospital to provide for 12 men and 8 women who were
poor and too old to work. The Hospital of the Blessed Trinity, modelled on a
university college, was built and formally opened in 1622. By 1630 the
manufacture started to make linen from flax grown locally.
Figure 3 The Hospital of the Blessed Trinity Guildford
The Archbishop’s
influence was irretrievably damaged in 1621. Abbot killed a gamekeeper, Peter
Hawkins, in a hunting accident at Bramshill. He withdrew to Guildford, to the
almost fully-built Hospital, while two commissions debated whether he could
continue as archbishop. Although he was subsequently pardoned by the king, he continued
to fast once a month in penitence for the death, paid £20 annually to Peter
Hawkins’ widow and left her £20 in his will.
The king
drew on Abbot’s spiritual support when he was dying in 1625 and the archbishop
crowned the new king, Charles I. However George Abbot played less and less part
in church affairs or at court. William Laud, the Bishop of London and George
Villiers, Duke of Buckingham opposed him and became increasingly powerful.
Abbot’s health was deteriorating. He died, aged 72 years, at his palace in
Croydon on 4th August 1633, having drawn up his will a year before. In the
will, Abbot requested that he should be buried in Guildford, naming his brother
Morris
and Morris’
son as executors. His body was taken from Croydon to Guildford, being received
by the Mayor on 4th September. It was interred in the chapel on the
south side of the chancel in the first Holy Trinity Church. Morris commissioned
a fine renaissance style monument for his brother. The work was carried out by
John and
Mathias
Christmas, who were London wood carvers and sculptors, and completed in 1635.
When the church tower fell in 1740, the tomb was one of the very few parts of
the building not to be destroyed. It was reinstated in the new church which
opened in 1763. In 1888 the memorial was moved a little further east, into the
new south or organ chapel, where it still stands.
Figure 4 Tomb of George Abbot by John and Mathias Christmas 1635
With many thanks to Roger
Howes for photography 2010
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