John Harley (bishop)
Encyclopedia
John Harley was an English bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...

. A strong Protestant, he was praised in verse by John Leland.

Life

He was probably born at Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell
Newport Pagnell is a town in the Borough of Milton Keynes , England. It is separated by the M1 motorway from Milton Keynes itself, though part of the same urban area...

, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....

, according to Browne Willis
Browne Willis
Browne Willis was an antiquary, author, numismatist and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1705 to 1708.-Early life:...

. He was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

, of which he was probationer-fellow from 1537 to 1542. He graduated B.A. on 5 July 1536, and M.A. on 4 June 1540.

He was master of Magdalen School
Magdalen College School, Oxford
Magdalen College School is an independent school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls in the sixth form, located on The Plain in Oxford, England. It was founded as part of Magdalen College, Oxford by William Waynflete in 1480....

 from 1542 to August 1548, when he became chaplain to John Dudley, 1st Earl of Warwick, and tutor to his children. During Lent 1547 he preached at St. Peter's-in-the-East, Oxford, a sermon against the pope. It alarmed the university authorities, and Harley was hastily summoned to London to be examined on a charge of heresy; but when the king's views became known he was speedily liberated.

He became rector of Upton-upon-Severn
Upton-upon-Severn
Upton-upon-Severn is a small town and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District of Worcestershire, England, on the River Severn. According to the national census 2001 it had a population of 2,859. Located from Malvern, the bridge at Upton is the only one across the river Severn between Worcester...

, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

, on 9 May 1550, being then B.D. and vicar of Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...

 in the same county, and incumbent of Maiden Bradley
Maiden Bradley
Maiden Bradley with Yarnfield is a small Wiltshire civil parish near the Somerset border and the home of the Duke of Somerset. The B3092 road that joins Frome to Mere runs through the middle of the village of Maiden Bradley....

, Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

, on the following 30 September. Edward VI made him his chaplain in 1551, and sent him, along with five other chaplains known for their preaching, on an evangelising tour throughout England. In 1552 he was considered likely to succeed Owen Oglethorpe
Owen Oglethorpe
Owen Oglethorpe: Bishop of Carlisle was an English academic and bishop.-Childhood and Education:He was born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, in approximately 1505-10 and educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was elected a fellow in 1526 and received his MA in 1529 and his DD in 1536...

as president of Magdalen College, but he lost the election.

On 26 May 1553 he was consecrated bishop of Hereford, but was deprived on 19 March 1554 for his Protestantism (DNB), or because he was married, and died in 1558.
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