John Potter (bishop)

John Potter
Archbishop of Canterbury

Installed	1737
Term ended	1747
Predecessor	William Wake
Successor	Thomas Herring
Personal details
Born	c. 1674 Wakefield, Yorkshire
Died	10 October 1747

John Potter PC (c. 1674 – 10 October 1747) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1737-1747).

Life

He was the son of a linen-draper at Wakefield, Yorkshire. At the age of fourteen he entered University College, Oxford, and in 1693 he published notes on Plutarch's De audiendis poetis and Basil's Oratio ad juvenes. In 1694 he was elected fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford and in 1697 his edition of Lycophron appeared. It was followed by his Archaeologia graeca (2 vols. 8vo, 1697–1698), the popularity of which endured till the advent of Dr William Smith's dictionaries. A reprint of his Lycophron in 1702 was dedicated to Graevius, and the Antiquities was afterwards published in Latin in the Thesaurus of Gronovius.

Besides holding several livings he became, in 1704, chaplain to Archbishop Tenison, and shortly afterwards was made chaplain-in-ordinary to Queen Anne. From 1708 he was Regius Professor of Divinity and canon of Christ Church, Oxford; and from 1715 he was Bishop of Oxford. In the latter year appeared his edition of Clement of Alexandria. In 1707 he published a Discourse on Church Government, and he took a prominent part in the controversy with Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor. Even though Potter was a notable Whig, he was a High Churchman and had opposed Hoadly.

In January 1737 Potter was unexpectedly appointed to succeed William Wake in the see of Canterbury. While in that seat, he continued to represent a High Church position, but he was also ineffective at restoring the Convocation. Alexander Pope attacked him in the 1743 version of his The Dunciad (book II, 323).

He married Elizabeth Venner, a granddaughter of Thomas Venner, a Fifth Monarchy man hanged as a traitor. He died on 10 October 1747. His Theological Works, consisting of sermons, charges, divinity lectures and the Discourse on Church Government, were published in three volumes.

Published in 1753, Potter's A System of Practical Mathematics is a comprehensive reference work which amongst other topics, addressed aspects of astronomy, and the recently adopted Gregorian calendrical system.

He was buried in Croydon Minster in Surrey.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Academic offices
Preceded by William Jane	Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford 1707—1737	Succeeded by George Rye
Church of England titles
Preceded by William Talbot	Bishop of Oxford 1715–1737	Succeeded by Thomas Secker
Preceded by William Wake	Archbishop of Canterbury 1737–1747	Succeeded by Thomas Herring

Bishops of Oxford

Early modern	Robert King Thomas Goldwell Hugh Curwen John Underhill John Bridges John Howson Richard Corbet John Bancroft Robert Skinner William Paul Walter Blandford Nathaniel Crew Henry Compton John Fell Samuel Parker Timothy Hall John Hough William Talbot John Potter Thomas Secker John Hume Robert Lowth John Butler Edward Smallwell John Randolph

Late modern	Charles Moss William Jackson Edward Legge Charles Lloyd Richard Bagot Samuel Wilberforce John Mackarness William Stubbs Francis Paget Charles Gore Hubert Burge Thomas Strong Kenneth Kirk Harry Carpenter Kenneth Woollcombe Patrick Rodger Richard Harries John Pritchard Colin Fletcher (acting)

Archbishops of Canterbury

Pre-Conquest	Augustine Laurence Mellitus Justus Honorius Deusdedit Wighard Theodore of Tarsus Berhtwald Tatwine Nothhelm Cuthbert Bregowine Jænberht Æthelhard Wulfred Feologild Ceolnoth Æthelred Plegmund Athelm Wulfhelm Oda Ælfsige Byrhthelm Dunstan Æthelgar Sigeric the Serious Ælfric of Abingdon Ælfheah Lyfing Æthelnoth Eadsige Robert of Jumièges Stigand

Conquest–Reformation	Lanfranc Anselm Ralph d'Escures William de Corbeil Theobald of Bec Thomas Becket Roger de Bailleul Richard of Dover Baldwin of Forde Reginald Fitz Jocelin Hubert Walter Reginald John de Gray Stephen Langton Walter d'Eynsham Richard le Grant Ralph Neville John of Sittingbourne John Blund Edmund Rich Boniface William Chillenden Robert Kilwardby Robert Burnell John Peckham Robert Winchelsey Thomas Cobham Walter Reynolds Simon Mepeham John de Stratford John de Ufford Thomas Bradwardine Simon Islip William Edington Simon Langham William Whittlesey Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Thomas Arundel Roger Walden Thomas Arundel Henry Chichele John Stafford John Kemp Thomas Bourchier John Morton Thomas Langton Henry Deane William Warham Thomas Cranmer Reginald Pole

Post-Reformation	Matthew Parker Edmund Grindal John Whitgift Richard Bancroft George Abbot William Laud William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon William Sancroft John Tillotson Thomas Tenison William Wake John Potter Thomas Herring Matthew Hutton Thomas Secker Frederick Cornwallis John Moore Charles Manners-Sutton William Howley John Sumner Charles Longley Archibald Tait Edward Benson Frederick Temple Randall Davidson Cosmo Lang William Temple Geoffrey Fisher Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Robert Runcie George Carey Rowan Williams Justin Welby

Italics indicate a person who was elected but not confirmed.

Authority control	WorldCat VIAF: 100189223 LCCN: n84133483 ISNI: 0000 0001 0830 9414 GND: 129045268 SUDOC: 084569603 BNF: cb10744759r (data)

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