The Archdeacon of Leicester is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Leicester.

History

The first archdeacon of Leicester is recorded before 1092 – around the time when archdeacons were first appointed in England – in the Diocese of Lincoln. He was one of eight archdeacons appointed by the bishop: Lincoln, Huntingdon, Northampton, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford and Stow.

In the Victorian era reforms, the archdeaconry became part of Peterborough diocese on 1 May 1839 and, on 12 November 1926, the modern Diocese of Leicester was founded from Leicester and Loughborough archdeaconries and part of the archdeaconry of Northampton.

List of archdeacons

High Medieval bef. 1092–?: Ranulph (first Archdeacon of Leicester) Godfrey bef. c.1129–aft. c.1134: Walter bef. c.1146–1148 (res.): Robert de Chesney bef. 1150–bef. 1159 (res.): Hugh Barre bef. 1163–aft. 1177: Baldric de Segillo c.1187–1189 (res.): Hamo (afterwards Dean of Lincoln) bef. c.1194–1195 (res.): Roger de Rolleston (afterwards Dean of Lincoln) bef. c.1198–aft. 1224: Reimund bef. 1226–aft. 1228: William Blund of Lincoln bef. 1229–1232 (res.): Robert Grosseteste 1232–1234: William de Dratton bef. 1235–1252 (d.): John of Basingstoke 1252–bef. 1274: Solomon of Dover 1275–bef. 1295 (d.): Roger de Saxenhurst 16 January 1295 – 16 September 1310 (d.): Roger Martival Late Medieval 13 October 1310 – 5 October 1346 (d.): Guillaume Cardinal de Farges (cardinal-deacon of Santa Maria Nova) 1346–26 February 1347 (res.): Raynald Orsini Arnald de Gavarreto was unsuccessfully provided to the archdeaconry in 1347 and was still claiming it – unsuccessfully – in 1355. 1347–bef. 1354 (d.): Henry Chaddesden 12 May 1354 – 1361 (d.): William Doune bef. 1371–27 August 1372 (d.): Philippe Cardinal de Cabassoles (Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina and Archdeacon of York) 1372–13 August 1379 (d.): Giacomo Cardinal Orsini, Dean of Salisbury (cardinal-deacon of San Giorgio in Velabro) 1380–2 February 1395 (d.): Poncello Orsini[it] (cardinal-priest of San Clemente; papal claimant, never in actual possession) 1390–c.1390 (res.): John Bottlesham (royal grant) 4 August 1392–bef. 1421: John Elvet 1392–1392 (rev.): Richard Holland (mistaken royal grant; revoked) bef. 1414–1424 (exch.): Richard Elvet 29 October 1424–bef. 1430: John Legbourne bef. 1430–aft. 1431: Thomas Barnsley 14 August 1454 – 1458 (res.): Richard Ewen (afterwards Archdeacon of Lincoln) 1458–bef. 1473 (d.): William Witham (also Dean of Arches from 1460 and Dean of Wells from 1467) 1473–bef. 1478: Roger Rotherham 1478–1479 (res.): John Morton 1485–bef. 1508 (d.): Richard Lavender 18 March 1508–bef. 1515: William Spark 1515–bef. 1518: Henry Wilcocks 1518–bef. 1531 (d.): Richard Maudeley25 March 1531–December 1531 (res.): Stephen Gardiner 14 December 1531 – 1535 (res.): Edward Foxe 9 October 1535 – 1539 (res.): Edmund Bonner 24 September 1539–bef. 1541 (d.): William More, Bishop suffragan of Colchester Early modern 19 February 1541–bef. 1560 (deprived): Thomas Robertson (deprived; also Dean of Durham from 1558, from which point archdeacon in commendam) 1560–15 February 1589 (d.): Richard Barber 10 May 1589 – 16 September 1590 (res.): Hugh Blythe 19 April 1591–bef. 1625 (d.): Robert Johnson 1 August 1625–bef. 1631 (d.): Richard Pilkington 21 September 1631–bef. 1641 (d.): William Warr 16 October 1641 – 1661 (res.): Henry Ferne 18 June 1661 – 27 June 1662 (exch.): Robert Hitch (afterwards Archdeacon of the East Riding, 1662 and Dean of York, 1665) 27 June 1662–bef. 1669 (d.): Clement Breton 30 July 1669 – 23 August 1679 (d.): William Owtram 10 September 1679 – 27 August 1683 (d.): Francis Meres 5 September 1683–bef. 1703 (d.): Byrom Eaton 1703–9 May 1715 (d.): John Rogers 17 May 1715 – 18 May 1756 (d.): David Trimnel 7 July 1756 – 29 August 1772 (d.): John Taylor 17 December 1772 – 23 December 1785 (d.): James Bickham 25 January 1786 – 9 March 1812 (d.): Andrew Burnaby 31 March 1812 – 13 November 1830 (d.): Thomas Parkinson 22 January 1831 – 7 April 1863 (d.): Thomas Bonney Upon the death of Herbert Marsh on 1 May 1839, Leicester archdeaconry become part of the Diocese of Peterborough. Late modern 1863–1884 (ret.): Henry Fearon 1884–1886 (d.): Assheton Pownall 1886–1899 (ret.): John Mitchinson (former Bishop of Barbados then of the Windward Islands) 1899–1920 (ret.): John Stocks 1921–1938 (ret.): Frederick MacNutt From 12 November 1926, the archdeaconry formed part of the new Leicester diocese. 1938–1956 (ret.): Cecil Matthews (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) 1956–1963 (res.): Irven Edwards 1963–1980 (ret.): Berkeley Cole (afterwards archdeacon emeritus) 1980–1994 (res.): David Silk 1994–2002 (res.): Mike Edson 2002–April 2012 (res.): Richard Atkinson 2012 – 8 September 2018 (res.): Tim Stratford (became Dean of Chester) 4 November 2018 – 2025 (res.): Richard Worsfold (resigned to become Area Dean of Salford and Leigh, 23 September 2025) 2 October 2025 – present: Richard Trethewey

Citations

Sources

  • Greenway, Diana E. (1977), , vol. 3, pp. 32–35
  • King, H.P.F. (1962), , vol. 1, pp. 12–13
  • Horn, Joyce M.; Smith, David M. (1999), , vol. 9, pp. 18–20
  • Horn, Joyce M. (1996), , vol. 8, p. 124
  • Cocks, Terence. (PDF).
  • Le Neve, John; Hardy, Sir Thomas Duffus (1854). Archdeacons of Leicester. Fasti ecclesiae Anglicanae. Vol. 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 59–63 – via Wikisource.