12 Facts About William Sancroft

William Sancroft was the 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, and was one of the Seven Bishops imprisoned in 1688 for seditious libel against King James II, over his opposition to the king's Declaration of Indulgence.

William Sancroft was born at Ufford Hall in Fressingfield, Suffolk, son of Francis Sandcroft and Margaret Sandcroft nee Butcher.

William Sancroft remained abroad till the Restoration, after which he was chosen one of the university preachers, and was elected Master of his alma mater Emmanuel College in 1662, serving until 1665.

William Sancroft began fundraising for a new chapel for the college in 1663 and contributed largely towards the cost.

William Sancroft continued to play a role in college affairs and the chapel was completed in 1667 to a design by Christopher Wren.

William Sancroft was criticized for leaving London during the Great Plague of 1665, though in his defence virtually all of the upper class did the same.

William Sancroft attended Charles II upon his deathbed, and "made to him a very weighty exhortation, in which he used a good degree of freedom".

William Sancroft wrote with his own hand the petition presented in 1688 against the reading of the Declaration of Indulgence, which was signed by himself and six of his suffragans.

Many years after it was composed, John Overall's Convocation Book was published by William Sancroft, to justify the principles of his Nonjuring party.

William Sancroft was a patron of Henry Wharton, the divine and church historian, to whom on his deathbed he entrusted his manuscripts and the remains of Archbishop Laud.

William Sancroft provided financial support to Mary Astell and an introduction to her future publisher; Astell later dedicated a collection of poetry to him.

William Sancroft died at his family home, Ufford Hall, and was buried in the churchyard of Fressingfield, where there is a Latin epitaph to his memory.