Thomas Sprat

Thomas Sprat
Bishop of Rochester

Installed	1684
Term ended	1713
Predecessor	Francis Turner
Successor	Francis Atterbury
Other posts	Dean of Westminster
Personal details
Born	1635 Beaminster, Dorset
Died	20 May 1713 Bromley, Kent
Denomination	Church of England
Alma mater	Wadham College, Oxford

Thomas Sprat (1635 – 20 May 1713), was an English churchman, Bishop of Rochester from 1684.

Life

Sprat was born at Beaminster, Dorset, and educated at Wadham College, Oxford, where he held a fellowship from 1657 to 1670. Having taken orders he became a prebendary of Lincoln Cathedral in 1660. In the preceding year he had gained a reputation by his poem To the Happie Memory of the most Renowned Prince Oliver, Lord Protector (London, 1659), and he was afterwards well known as a wit, preacher and man of letters.

Frontispiece to A History of the Royal Society, showing the crowning of King Charles II. Sir Francis Bacon is shown on the right; William Brouncker, 2nd Viscount Brouncker, the president of the Society, is on the left.

In 1669 Sprat became canon of Westminster Abbey, and in 1670 rector of Uffington, Lincolnshire. He was chaplain to Charles II in 1676, curate and lecturer at St. Margaret's, Westminster, in 1679, canon of Chapel Royal, Windsor in 1681, Dean of Westminster in 1683 and Bishop of Rochester in 1684.

Sprat was a member of James II's ecclesiastical commission, and in 1688 he read the Declaration of Indulgence to empty benches in Westminster Abbey. The suggestion was that he was playing at being Vicar of Bray. Although he opposed the motion of 1689 declaring the throne vacant, he assisted at the coronation of William and Mary. As dean of Westminster he directed Christopher Wren's restoration of the abbey.

In 1692 a bizarre attempt was made to implicate Sprat in a plot to restore the deposed king James II. This became known as the "flowerpot plot" because it involved a conspirator — a man named Robert Young — forging Sprat's signature on a document, smuggling it into the Bishop's manor and hiding the paper under a flowerpot. The authorities were contacted about the document, which led to the Bishop's arrest for high treason and the searching of his house - the forged document was eventually found where Young had said it would be. However, Sprat was soon freed when it became clear that there was no case to answer.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Works

Sprat's major prose works are the Observations upon Monsieur de Sorbier's Voyage into England (London, 1665), a satirical reply to the strictures on Englishmen in Samuel de Sorbière's book Relation d’un voyage en Angleterre (Paris, 1664), and a History of the Royal Society of London (London, 1667), which Sprat had helped to found. The History of the Royal Society elaborates the scientific purposes of the academy and outlines some of the strictures of scientific writing that set the modern standards for clarity and conciseness.

Family

Shortly after Sprat's death, his son Thomas Sprat, Archdeacon of Rochester was made a canon of Westminster.^[4]

Notes

↑ Johnson, p36 ff.
↑ Clinch, p15 ff.
↑ Lee, 419 ff.
↑ Westminster Abbey – Thomas Sprat (Accessed 16 April 2013)

References

Sprat, Thomas. History of the Royal Society of London, for the Improving of Natural Knowledge (London, 1667).
Clinch, George. Antiquarian Jottings: relating to Bromley, Hayes Keston, and West Wickham, in Kent (1889).
Johnson, Samuel. The Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets: Vol. 2 (1821).
"Sprat, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

Bibliographic directory from Project Canterbury

Church of England titles
Preceded by John Dolben	Dean of Westminster 1683–1713	Succeeded by Francis Atterbury
Preceded by Francis Turner	Bishop of Rochester 1684–1713	Succeeded by Francis Atterbury

Westminster Abbey

Deans

Early modern	William Benson Richard Cox Hugh Weston William Bill Gabriel Goodman Lancelot Andrewes Richard Neile George Montaigne Robert Tounson John Williams Richard Steward John Earle John Dolben Thomas Sprat Francis Atterbury Samuel Bradford Joseph Wilcocks Zachary Pearce John Thomas Samuel Horsley

Late modern	William Vincent John Ireland Thomas Turton Samuel Wilberforce William Buckland Richard Chenevix Trench Arthur Stanley George Bradley Armitage Robinson Herbert Ryle William Foxley Norris Paul de Labilliere Alan Don Eric Abbott Edward Carpenter Michael Mayne Wesley Carr John Hall

Canons (current)

Vernon White (Canon Theologian)
David Stanton (Canon Treasurer & Almoner)
Jane Sinclair (Rector of St Margaret's)
Anthony Ball (Canon Steward)
vacant roles: Sub-Dean; Archdeacon
Chris Stoltz (Minor Canon & Precentor)
Mark Birch (Minor Canon & Chaplain)
Paul Arbuthnot (Minor Canon & Sacrist)

Category
Commons

Bishops of Rochester

Pre-Conquest	Justus Romanus Paulinus of York Ithamar Damianus Putta Cwichelm Gebmund Tobias Aldwulf Dunn Eardwulf Diora Waermund (I) Beornmod Tatnoth Badenoth Waermund (II) Cuthwulf Swithwulf Ceolmund Cyneferth Burgric Beorhtsige Ælfstan Godwine (I) Godwine (II) Siward

Conquest–Reformation	Arnost Gundulf Ralph d'Escures Ernulf John (I) John (II) Ascelin Walter Waleran Gilbert Glanvill Benedict of Sausetun Henry Sandford Richard Wendene Lawrence of St Martin Walter de Merton John Bradfield John Kirkby Thomas Ingoldsthorpe Thomas Wouldham Hamo Hethe John Sheppey William Whittlesey Thomas Trilleck Thomas Brinton William Bottlesham John Bottlesham Richard Young John Kemp John Langdon Thomas Brunce William Wells John Low Thomas Rotherham John Alcock John Russell Edmund Audley Thomas Savage Richard FitzJames John Fisher

Post-Reformation	John Hilsey Nicholas Heath Henry Holbeach Nicholas Ridley John Ponet John Scory Maurice Griffith Edmund Allen Edmund Gheast Edmund Freke John Piers John Young William Barlow Richard Neile John Buckeridge Walter Curle John Bowle John Warner John Dolben Francis Turner Thomas Sprat Francis Atterbury Samuel Bradford Joseph Wilcocks Zachary Pearce John Thomas Samuel Horsley Thomas Dampier Walker King Hon Hugh Percy George Murray Joseph Wigram Thomas Claughton Anthony Thorold Randall Davidson Edward Talbot John Harmer Linton Smith Christopher Chavasse David Say Michael Turnbull Michael Nazir-Ali James Langstaff

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 14887139 LCCN: n50078848 ISNI: 0000 0001 1598 6106 GND: 104278285 SELIBR: 314790 SUDOC: 06706096X BNF: cb125563389 (data) NLA: 36403675

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