John Ireland

Born the son of a butcher in Ashburton he was educated at the local grammar school and later attended Oriel College at Oxford Univeristy. He gained his MA, BD, and DD thirty years later in 1810. He served as vicar of Croydon and chaplain to the Earl of Liverpool during which he was appointed Canon of Westminster. Ireland became sub-dean in 1806 and ten years later Dean of Westminister, dean of the Order of Bath and rector of Islip, Oxfordshire. In 1825 he donated £4000 for four scholarships at Oxford and spent £2000 on the house for the master of Ashburton Grammar. During his tenure as Dean of Westminster he held the crown at the coronations of George IV and William IV. He was conservative regarding ecclesiastical and political reform opposing Catholic emancipation.