Christopher Urswick

Christopher Urswick (1448–1522) was a priest and confessor of Margaret Beaufort. He was Rector of Puttenham, Hertfordshire, and later Dean of Windsor. Urswick is thought to have acted as a go-between in the plotting to place her son Henry VII of England on the throne.

Early life and education

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Urswick was born at Furness in 1448. His father, John Urswick, and his mother were lay brother and sister of Furness Abbey.^[1]

He was educated at Lancaster Royal Grammar School (which was then called 'The Free School at Lancaster')

Career

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He was Archdeacon of Wilts (1488–1522), Archdeacon of Richmond (1494–1500) and Archdeacon of Norfolk (1500–1522). Circa 1486 he was given the prebend of Chiswick in St Paul's Cathedral. He was also Dean of York from 1488 to 1494, a Canon of St George's Chapel, Windsor from 1492 to 1496 and then Dean of Windsor from 1495 to 1505. He was the Lord Almoner from 1485 to 1495.^[2]

He declined the position of Bishop of Norwich in 1498 and was collated Archdeacon of Oxford in 1504.

Amongst his more important positions, Urswick became Rector of the Parish of Hackney in 1502, where he ordered the medieval parish church to be rebuilt. St Augustine's Tower is the only remnant.

Death

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Urswick died on 24 March 1522 in Hackney (parish) and was buried in St Augustine's Church, Hackney.^[3]

Commemoration

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He appears as a minor character in Shakespeare's Richard III.

He built a parish house in Hackney (Urswick House, now demolished), where he lived for a time. He is commemorated in Urswick Road in nearby Homerton.

He founded The Urswick School for 12 poor boys, which was until recently called Hackney Free and Parochial School in Hackney Central.^[4] The Urswick Chantry in St. George's Chapel commemorates him.^[5]

References

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^ Pollard, Albert (1899). "Urswick, Christopher" . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. pp. 55–56.
^ Thompson, Benjamin. Political Society in Later Medieval England. p. 226.
^ "No offence!". College of St George Windsor. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
^ "The History of the School". theurswickschool.co.uk. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
^ "Unknown Person - The Urswick Chantry, St Georges Chapel, Windsor Castle". www.rct.uk. Retrieved 18 August 2015.

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Urswick, Christopher" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Pollard, Albert (1899). "Urswick, Christopher". In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Trapp, J. B. "Urswick, Christopher (1448?–1522)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28024. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

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Late Medieval	Thomas of Savoy William de Chaddleshunt Gerald de Tilheto Iswin de Gandavo Robert de Baldock (senior) Robert de Ayleston Ralph de Querendon John de Whitchurch John Barne John Lineden John Silvestre/Codeford Nicholas Wykeham William Magot John Chitterne John Gaunstede John Symondesburgh John Chadworth Marinus Ursinus Vincent Clement Peter Courtenay Hugh Pavy Christopher Urswick Edward Finch John Pollard
Early modern	John Lawrence Giles Lawrence John Sprint Edmund Lilly Walter Benet Thomas Leche William Creed Thomas Henchman Seth Ward Robert Woodward Thomas Ward Cornelius Yate Thomas Rundle Henry Stebbing Charles Weston Richard Brickenden Arthur Coham William Douglas William Coxe William Macdonald
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Early life and education

Career

Death

Commemoration

References

Further reading