Benjamin Hoadly

Benjamin Hoadly, who held the sees of Bangor, Hereford, Salisbury and Winchester in rapid succession, was the most notorious Bishop of the eighteenth century. He was probably the best-hated clergyman of the century among his own order; but it is often forgotten that he was also a hero to many of those who wished to see the triumph of Whig principles in the state and Latitudinarian opinions within the church.

It is easy to see why he was hated by so many of his clerical brethren: he was a Christian who held lax, even unorthodox, theological views; an Anglican who supported the civil claims of the Dissenters and who helped to bring about the prorogation of Convocation for more than a century; a clergyman who opposed sacerdotal privileges; and a Bishop who attacked the privileged status of the Church of England.