John Vesey

Memorial dedicated to Vesey in Vesey Gardens, located to the side of Holy Trinity Church in Sutton Coldfield where he is buried

John Vesey or Veysey (1462?–1554) was an English bishop.

Life

Vesey was born John Harman, probably about 1462, the son of a yeoman farmer, in a farmhouse now known as Moor Hall Farm, Sutton Coldfield. He received his education at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a doctorate in canon canon and civil law. After ordination he was appointed rector of St Mary's Church, Chester. He founded Bishop Vesey's Grammar School for boys in Sutton Coldfield in 1527, which is named after him to this day.

Vesey became a friend of Thomas Wolsey who was also educated at Magdalen College. Until 1508 he^{[clarification needed]} served as Archdeacon of Barnstaple. In 1509, Wolsey became a canon of Windsor and chaplain to Henry VIII of England. Vesey was appointed a canon of Exeter Cathedral. Vesey became the Bishop of Exeter in 1519 and the King awarded him the temporalities of the see, worth about £1,500 a year. The town of his birth benefited greatly from his wealth. In 1527 he obtained permission to enclose a large plot of land close to his birthplace and built a grand house (as of 2013^[update] the site of Moor Hall Hotel) where he occasionally lived.

The township of Sutton Coldfield had fallen on hard times and Vesey took it on himself to restore the fortunes of the town and its inhabitants. He prevailed upon the King to grant a Royal Charter of incorporation for the town in 1528; this entrusted the government of the town to a warden and to 24 local inhabitants known together as the Warden and Society of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.

Vesey is credited^{[by whom?]} with rebuilding the aisles of the church, reviving the markets and building a marketplace, paving the town, building two stone bridges, founding and endowing a free grammar school, Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, and building 51 stone houses.

Vesey survived the fall of Wolsey in 1529 and prospered reasonably under Thomas Cromwell until 1551, when his opposition to the English Reformation caught up with him. He was deprived^{[by whom?]} of his see and its temporalities in exchange for a pension of £485 a year. He was restored to the see of Exeter when Queen Mary came to the throne in 1553. He died in 1554 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church on Trinity Hill, Sutton Coldfield, which the school visits annually in a ceremony.

Sutton Coldfield was granted the Royal Tudor Rose by King Henry VIII in thanks for being aided by a young woman who shot dead, with an arrow, a wild boar which was charging at the King. He asked for the person responsible to come forward and a young woman from Sutton Coldfield came out of the trees.^[when?]. Vesey, a close friend of the King, was present at at the incident. They also returned dispossessed land to the young woman's family.^{[citation needed]}

Sources

George Oliver, The Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, 1861.
Fryer, Geoffrey R.D. (1997), John Vesey and His World: A Biography of Bishop Vesey (c.1465-1554) of Sutton Coldfield: published by the author. ISBN 0-9682625-0-3.

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Religious titles
Preceded by Hugh Oldham	Bishop of Exeter 1519–1551	Succeeded by Myles Coverdale
Preceded by Myles Coverdale	Bishop of Exeter 1553–1554	Succeeded by James Turberville

v t e Deans of Exeter
High Medieval	Serlo Roger de Wynkleigh William de Stanwey Roger de Toriz John Noble John Pycot Andrew de Kilkenny
Late Medieval	Henry de Somerset Thomas de Lechlade Bartholomew de Sancto Laurentio Richard de Coleton Richard de Braylegh Reginald de Bugwell Robert Sumpter Thomas Walkyngton Ralph Tregrision Stephen Payn John Cobethorn John Hals Henry Webber Peter Courtenay Lionel Woodville John Arundel
Early modern	Edward Willoughby Thomas Hobbes John Vesey Richard Pace Reginald Pole Simon Haynes James Haddon Thomas Reynolds Gregory Dodds George Carew Stephen Townesend Matthew Sutcliffe William Peterson Seth Ward Edward Young George Cary The Hon Richard Annesley William Wake Lancelot Blackburne Edward Trelawney John Gilbert Alured Clarke William Holmes Charles Lyttleton Jeremiah Milles William Buller Charles Harward
Late modern	Charles Talbot George Gordon John Garnett Whittington Landon Thomas Lowe Charles Ellicott The Viscount Midleton Archibald Boyd Benjamin Cowie Alfred Earle Henry Gamble Walter Matthews Spencer Carpenter Alexander Wallace Marcus Knight Clifford Chapman Richard Eyre Keith Jones Jonathan Meyrick Jonathan Draper

v t e Deans of Windsor
Late Medieval	William Mugge Walter Almaly Thomas Butler Richard Kingston John Arundel Thomas Manning John Faux William Morland William Dudley Peter Courtenay Richard Beauchamp Thomas Danett William Bealey John Morgan Christopher Urswick
Early modern	Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Hobbs Nicholas West John Vesey John Clerk Richard Sampson William Franklyn Owen Oglethorpe Hugh Weston John Boxall George Carew William Day Robert Bennet Giles Thomson Anthony Maxey Marco Antonio de Dominis Henry Beaumont Matthew Wren Christopher Wren Edward Hyde Bruno Ryves John Durell Francis Turner Gregory Hascard Thomas Manningham John Robinson The Lord Willoughby de Broke Peniston Booth Frederick Keppel John Harley John Douglas James Cornwallis Charles Manners-Sutton
Late modern	Edward Legge Henry Hobart George Neville-Grenville Gerald Wellesley George Connor Randall Davidson Philip Eliot Albert Baillie Eric Hamilton Robin Woods Launcelot Fleming Michael Mann Patrick Mitchell David Conner

v t e Bishops of Exeter
Bishops of Crediton	Werstan (bishop at Tawton) Putta (bishop at Tawton) Eadwulf Æthelgar Ælfwold I Sideman Ælfric Ælfwold II Ælfwold III Eadnoth Lyfing of Winchester Leofric see translated to Exeter
High Medieval	Leofric Osbern FitzOsbern William Warelwast Robert Warelwast Robert of Chichester Bartholomew Iscanus John the Chanter Henry Marshal Simon of Apulia William Briwere Richard Blund Walter Branscombe Peter Quinel Thomas Bitton
Late Medieval	Walter de Stapledon James Berkeley John Godeley John Grandisson Thomas de Brantingham Edmund Stafford John Catterick Edmund Lacey John Hales George Neville John Booth Peter Courtenay Richard Foxe Oliver King Richard Redman
Early modern	John Arundel Hugh Oldham John Vesey Myles Coverdale John Vesey James Turberville William Alley William Bradbridge John Woolton Gervase Babington William Cotton Valentine Cary Joseph Hall Ralph Brownrigg Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) John Gauden Seth Ward Anthony Sparrow Thomas Lamplugh Sir Jonathan Trelawney Bt Ofspring Blackall Lancelot Blackburne Stephen Weston Nicholas Clagett George Lavington Frederick Keppel John Ross William Buller Reginald Courtenay
Late modern	John Fisher George Pelham William Carey Christopher Bethell Henry Phillpotts Frederick Temple Edward Bickersteth Herbert Edward Ryle Archibald Robertson Lord William Cecil Charles Curzon Robert Mortimer Eric Mercer Hewlett Thompson Michael Langrish John Ford (acting) Nick McKinnel (acting) Robert Atwell

John Vesey

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