Richard Bagot

Born in Northhamptonshire he attended Oxford where he graduated with a BA in 1803, a MA in 1806 and a DD in 1829. He was offered an All Souls Fellowship but declined. A nervous and reserved man he had little intrest in being visible politically within the church where he was ordained in 1806. His father presented him the rectory of Leigh in Staffordshire in 1806 and the following year the family seat of the Blithfield rectory. In 1812 he was made a prebendary of the Lichfield Cathedral and in 1817 a canonry of Worcester. Ten years later he was made dean of Canterbury. His translation to the bishopric of Oxford was initially rejected until the Duke of Wellington convinced him it would not be a stressful position, this advice did not prove true. Sixteen years later after being thrust at the center of the Oxford movement he pleaded for Sir Robert Peel to be translated elsewhere. In 1845 he was translated to Bath and Wells where he suffered nervous breakdowns due to his time at Oxford.