Richard Sterne (bishop)

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable Richard Sterne
Archbishop of York
In office	1664–1683
Predecessor	Accepted Frewen
Successor	John Dolben
Personal details
Born	c. 1596 Mansfield, Nottinghamshire
Died	1683
Alma mater	Trinity College, Cambridge

Memorial to Archbishop Richard Sterne in the north choir aisle of York Minster by Grinling Gibbons.

Richard Sterne (c. 1596–1683 born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire) was a Church of England priest, Archbishop of York from 1664 to 1683.

Life

He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he graduated MA in 1618, BD in 1625 and DD in 1635. He was elected a fellow of Benet College (now Corpus Christi College), Cambridge in 1623 and then served as Master of Jesus College, Cambridge from 1634.

In c.1633, Sterne became chaplain to Archbishop Laud. From 1642 he held the rectories of Yeovilton and Harleton. A Royalist, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Parliamentarians later the same year. In 1644 he was formally dismissed as Master of Jesus and in 1645 he lost his rectories, although he was released from prison.

At the Restoration in 1660, Sterne was appointed Bishop of Carlisle — he was elected to the See on 15 November 1660, confirmed 1 December, and consecrated a bishop on 2 December 1660. From there he was translated to York in 1664 — he was elected to that See on 28 April and confirmed on 31 May. He is said to have been one of those who assisted in revising the Book of Common Prayer in 1662. He also assisted Brian Walton with the English Polyglot Bible and himself wrote Summa Logicae (published posthumously in 1685). He founded scholarships at both Corpus Christi and Jesus Colleges.

His great-grandson Laurence Sterne attended Jesus College, Cambridge, and would find literary fame in the 1760s as author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent. and live as a curate and parson in Yorkshire.

Sources

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Sterne, Richard" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Pollard, Albert Frederick (1898). "Sterne, Richard" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 54. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
• Pollard, A. F.; Spurr, John. "Sterne, Richard (1595/6–1683)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/26413. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)