Bristol

Bristol, in Gloucestershire, England, the seat of a bishopric of the Church of England, founded by Henry VIII, who in 1542 converted the abbey-church of the Augustine monks into a cathedral, dividing the abbey lands between the bishop and the chapter, which he made to consist of a dean and six secular canons or prebendaries. The church was also served by an archdeacon, six minor canons, a deacon and subdeacon, six lay clerks, and six choristers. This see is now united to that of Gloucester, and the bishop is styled of Gloucester and Bristol. The last bishop of Bristol, Dr. Allen, was transferred to Ely in 1836. The present bishop of Gloucester and Bristol (1861) is Charles Baring, consecrated 1856.