GEMMS IDGEMMS-PERSON-000641
NameWilliam Bedell
TitleBishop
Gendermale
DenominationChurch of England
Livedb. ca. 1572-03-25 - d. 1641-02-07 (old)
Linked Manuscripts
Linked SermonsA sermon preached before the Earl of Strafford Lord Lieutenant of Ireland & the Parliament assembled at Dublin 1634 -- preacher (autograph: no)
Linked Reports
Associated PlacesArdagh -- BishopricKilmore -- BishopricHorningsheath -- ParishSt Mary -- ParishEmmanuel College -- Place of StudyEmmanuel College -- PostTrinity College -- Post
Source of DataLucy Busfield; Benjamin Durham; Hannah Wood
Biographical Sources ConsultedODNB (Article: 1924)
Other NoteWilliam Bedell was born to John Bedell (d. 1600) and Elizabeth Aliston (d.1624) at Black Notely, Essex and was baptized on 14 January 1572. He was admitted pensioner to Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1584 and graduated B.A. in 1589; he proceeded M.A. in 1592, was elected a fellow in 1593, was ordained priest in 1697, and proceeded B.D. in 1599. In 1602 Bedell joined the ministry of St Mary in Bury St Edmunds, although little is known of his early career. His intelligence and skills with languages won him the opportunity to travel to Venice as chaplain to the English ambassador Sir Henry Wotton in 1607. Bedell returned to England in late 1610 or early 1611 and was made rector of Horningsheath in 1616. He resigned the rectory in 1628, having been made provost of Trinity College Dublin the previous year. In 1629 Bedell was appointed to the combined bishoprics of Kilmore and Ardagh, the latter of which he resigned in 1632. A skilled translator, Bedell added to earlier translation projects undertaken in Venice with “The A.B.C., or, the Institution of a Christian” (1631), a catechism with parallel English and Irish texts. Bedell was caught up in the Irish rising of 1641; the was arrested and replaced by the Roman Catholic bishop of Kilmore, Eugene Sweeny. Released in January 1642, Bedell never recovered from his imprisonment in Clough Oughter and died on 7 February 1642. He was predeceased by his wife Leah L’Estrange or Bowles (c.1581-1638), with whom he had four children — William (14 February 1613), Grace (29 May 1614), John (9 August 1616), and Ambrose (21 March 1618) — and three step-children.
GEMMS record createdJuly 21, 2016
GEMMS record last editedJune 27, 2022