26 Facts About Henry Phillpotts

Henry Phillpotts, often called "Henry of Exeter", was the Anglican Bishop of Exeter from 1830 to 1869.

Henry Phillpotts was one of England's longest serving bishops since the 14th century.

Henry Phillpotts grew up in Gloucestershire, and was educated at Gloucester Cathedral school.

Henry Phillpotts took holy orders in 1802, being ordained deacon by John Randolph, Bishop of London, and priest by Henry Majendie, Bishop of Chester, in 1804.

Henry Phillpotts was selected university preacher in 1804, in which year he published his Sermon on 5 November, delivered before the University of Oxford.

Henry Phillpotts was appointed chaplain to Bishop Middleham, County Durham, in the succeeding year.

Henry Phillpotts now resided for a considerable part of the year at Durham, and on the chapelry of St Margaret in the city becoming vacant, he was presented to it by the Dean and Chapter on 28 September 1810.

Henry Phillpotts's episcopate was characterized by the establishment of many new parishes in Cornwall and considerable evangelical efforts.

Henry Phillpotts was aware that his appointment to Exeter was not popular locally and knowing of his unpopularity he at times took measures to protect himself from it.

Henry Phillpotts' character was of the type that determined never to give up on a fight and he persisted in applying his standards.

Henry Phillpotts was the protagonist in the famous Gorham controversy, and held his ground in defeat when Manning seceded to Rome in protest against the verdict of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Gorham's favour.

Henry Phillpotts was an energetic supporter of the Tory party, even when it acted contrary to his views in passing the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829.

Henry Phillpotts was a high-church reformer in his own diocese, aiming to increase the prestige, efficiency and orthodoxy of the church organisation.

Henry Phillpotts was renowned for his political pamphlets and the fact that he aired his opinions on every matter of current affairs, although he was not the greatest of diplomats:.

Henry Phillpotts's published works include numerous speeches and pamphlets, including those connected with his well-known Roman Catholic controversy with Charles Butler and with the Gorham case, in which he was a principal player.

Henry Phillpotts was a prolific writer of articles on matters of politics, social order and religion, propounding conservative and often controversial views.

Henry Phillpotts was regarded as an opponent of Catholic emancipation, and on this theme published Letters to Charles Butler, Letters to Canning and A Letter to an English Layman on the Coronation Oath.

Henry Phillpotts' position was that of the traditional High Churchman, with little sympathy either with the evangelicals or with the Tractarians, although he was considered to represent the conservative high church wing of the Oxford Movement and emphasized liturgical forms of worship, episcopal government, monastic life, and early Christian doctrine as normative of orthodoxy.

Henry Phillpotts was generous in his gifts to the church, founding the theological college at Exeter and spending large sums on the restoration of the cathedral.

Exeter Cathedral states that Henry Phillpotts was able to restore the Bishop's palace in a "most creditable manner".

In October 1804, not long after his ordination as a priest, Henry Phillpotts married Deborah Maria Surtees.

Henry Phillpotts was a niece of John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon: thus the marriage marked a rise in social status for the young clergyman whose own family background was undistinguished.

Several of Henry Phillpotts' children married into the families of his diocesan clergy, examples being Maria Phillpotts who in 1833 married the Reverend Richard Stephens, rector of Dunsford, Sybella Phillpotts who in 1836 married the Reverend Francis Houssemayne du Boulay, rector of Lawhitton, and Charles Edward Phillpotts, an Army officer who in 1860 married Jane Hole, daughter of the rector of Chulmleigh.

On 9 September 1869 Henry Phillpotts formally executed the resignation of his see, but before its completion he died on 18 September 1869.

Henry Phillpotts was buried in the churchyard at St Marychurch, Torquay, near his wife Deborah, who had died six years before him.

Bishop Henry Phillpotts appears as a pompous bishop of Exeter, in Edward Marston's historical novel set in 1857, The Stationmaster's Farewell.