Barlow, William

Barlow, William Bishop of Chichester, was born in Essex, and educated at Oxford. He was a regular canon of St. Augustine, and became prior of the house of Bisham, in Berks, in 1535, in which year Henry VIII sent him on an embassy into Scotland. He rendered up his house at the time of the dissolution of the monastic houses, and endeavored to induce others to follow his example. He was rewarded with the see of St. Asaph in 1535, from which he was translated, in 1536, to St. David's, and thence again to Bath and Wells in 1547. He was one of the strongest opponents of popery in England, and was largely instrumental in spreading the reformation. He married Agatha Wellesbourne, and was, in consequence, deprived on the accession of Queen Mary. During the reign of that princess he lived in Germany; but after her death he returned to England, and was appointed, in 1559, to the see of Chichester, which he held till his death in August, 1568. He left eleven children; five of them were daughters, all of whom were married to bishops. His son William was an eminent mathematician. See Burnet, Hist. of Reformation, 3, 158, 391, 623; Hook, Eccl. Biog. 1:512.