Editing Henry Phillpotts (section)

== Life ==

=== Early life ===
Henry Phillpotts, [[Doctor of Divinity|D.D.]], Bishop of Exeter, was born on 6 May 1778 at [[Bridgwater]], [[Somerset]], England, the son of [[John Phillpotts (land agent)|John Phillpotts]], a [[factory]] owner, [[innkeeper]], [[auctioneer]] and land agent to the Dean and Chapter of [[Gloucester Cathedral]]. He grew up in [[Gloucestershire]], and was educated at Gloucester Cathedral school. [[John Phillpotts (MP)|John Phillpotts]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Gloucester (UK Parliament constituency)|Gloucester]] city between 1830 and 1847, was his elder brother. Two other brothers, Thomas and George, and two sisters, Isabella and Sibella, reached adulthood; a number of other siblings died in infancy or childhood.<ref name="Percy">Phillpotts, Percy (c. 1910), ''A Phillpotts Genealogy'', unpublished manuscript in family possession.</ref>

Elected a scholar of [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford|Corpus Christi]], [[Oxford University|Oxford]], at the age of only thirteen, he took his [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] at Corpus Christi, and his [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA]] at [[Magdalen College, Oxford|Magdalen College]] in 1795, aged eighteen. He took [[Holy Orders|holy orders]] in 1802, being ordained [[deacon]] by [[John Randolph (Bishop of London)|John Randolph]], [[Bishop of London]], and [[priest]] by [[Henry Majendie]], [[Bishop of Chester]], in 1804.

He was selected university preacher in 1804, in which year he published his ''Sermon on 5 November'', delivered before the [[University of Oxford]].

In September 1804 he was presented to the [[The Crown|Crown]] [[advowson|living]] of [[Kilmersdon]], near [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], which he held until 1806.<ref>{{CCEd |type=person |id=28960 |name=Phillpotts, Henry |year1=1802 |year2=1832 }}</ref> He does not appear ever to have resided there, duty being taken by a [[curate]] named Daniel Drape, according to the [[parish]] registers.

=== Diocese of Durham ===
Philpotts married in October 1804 and in 1805 became [[vicar]]. He was appointed [[chaplain]] to [[Bishop Middleham]], County Durham, in the succeeding year. For twenty years he was chaplain to [[Bishop of Durham|Bishop]] [[Shute Barrington]], in the [[Diocese of Durham]].<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1 |wstitle=Phillpotts, Henry |volume=21 |pages=408–409}}</ref>

In 1808 he received his next preferment, being collated by the bishop to the large and important parish of [[Gateshead]]—within a year his rapid advancement continued with the collation to the ninth [[prebendal stall]] in [[Durham Cathedral]].
<blockquote>"That at the age of 31 he should already have held four livings and a prebendal stall testifies to the regard in which he was held by his [[Diocese|diocesan]], and the usefulness of his marriage connection."</blockquote>

He now resided for a considerable part of the year at Durham, and on the [[chapelry]] of [[Margaret the Virgin|St Margaret]] in the city becoming vacant, he was presented to it by the [[Dean (religion)|Dean]] and [[Chapter (religion)|Chapter]] on 28 September 1810. On 30 December 1815 Philpotts received yet further preferment, being collated by the bishop to the second [[Canon (priest)|canonry]] in the Cathedral, the [[emolument]]s of which were considerably higher than those of the ninth. This he held for five years, at the end of which period his literary and controversial abilities brought him into advancing prominence.

After holding the rich living of [[Stanhope, County Durham|Stanhope]], Durham, from 1820, and the Deanery of [[Chester cathedral|Chester]] from 1828, he was consecrated [[Bishop of Exeter]] in 1831, holding with the [[Episcopal see|see]] a residentiary [[canonry]] at Durham<ref name="EB1911"/> which he secured permission to hold along with his bishopric, one of the last cases of the benefice [[In Commendam|in commendam]] by which [[medieval]] and later bishops had often profited.

Philpotts recognised the need to look after his family, extensive as it was&nbsp;— he had 18 children. When he was offered the bishopric in Exeter he realised that the stipend (£3,000) was not enough to support his family, so he asked to retain his parish of Stanhope, in Durham (as a non-resident), which would be worth an additional £4,000 a year. As a compromise he was instead offered the canonry at [[Durham Cathedral|Durham]] which was worth a similar amount, and was a post which he continued to hold until his death.{{Cn|date=December 2024}}

=== Diocese of Exeter ===
As bishop he was a strict disciplinarian, and did much to restore order in a [[diocese]] whose clergy had become extraordinarily demoralized<ref name="EB1911"/> and over which he wielded considerable power.

The diocese at that time extended from the [[Somerset]] and [[Dorset]] borders to the Isles of [[Scilly]] in [[Cornwall]]. His episcopate was characterized by the establishment of many new parishes in Cornwall and considerable evangelical efforts.<ref>Brown, H. M. (1976) ''A Century for Cornwall''. Truro: Blackford; pp. 4–18</ref>

In 1841 he built for himself a palace at [[Torquay]], [[Devon]]. Bishopstowe (now the Palace Hotel) served as the bishop's residence, which he preferred as a home to the Bishop's Residence attached to [[Exeter Cathedral]]. The gardens in the {{convert|25|acre|m2}} of private land stretching to the sea are still a major attraction today together with the Bishop's Walk at the local beauty spot of Ansteys Cove.

Phillpotts was aware that his appointment to Exeter was not popular locally and knowing of his unpopularity he at times took measures to protect himself from it. He admits in a letter to Ralph Barnes, his secretary, on 14 December 1830 to being "Cautious...in admitting adverse newspapers to my table, yet the caution has not prevented me from hearing of the extreme unpopularity of my appointment to Exeter."

The year 1831 saw Phillpotts as the victim of the [[Guy Fawkes Night]] custom of burning effigies of clergymen; knowing his reputation he took action by requesting protection, thus the 7th Yeomanry Cavalry filled the palace at Exeter, while the crowd in the cathedral yard burned Phillpotts in effigy; <blockquote>.... hollow turnip as head and candle as nose, clad in [[mitre]] and [[lawn cloth|lawn]] sleeves... (Chadwick I, 1997, p 29)</blockquote>

In 1848 he placed an appeal in ''[[The Guardian (Anglican newspaper)|The Guardian]]'' of 5 January 1848, for help for the poor of [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]]; his request was answered by [[Lydia Sellon]] who was just about to travel to Italy for her health. Philpott's inspiration of Sellon led to the formation of an Anglican order which Sellon led.<ref name=potts>{{cite book|last1=Kollar|first1=Rene|title=Foreign and Wicked Institution?, A: The Campaign Against Convents in Victorian England|date=2014|isbn=978-0227903117|page=contents|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0227903110}}</ref>