John Battely

Fig. 6-9: illustration from critique of Antiquitates Rutupinae, published in Acta Eruditorum, 1712

John Battely (also spelt 'Batteley') (1646–1708)^[1] was an English antiquary and clergyman, Archdeacon of Canterbury 1688–1708. He was the author of two antiquarian works published after his death: Antiquitates Rutupinae^[2] ('Antiquities of Richborough') and Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad Annum MCCLXXII Perductae ('Antiquities of St. Edmundsbury to 1272'). John Battely was the brother of Nicholas Battely, who edited William Somner's Cantuaria sacra, the first account of the antiquities of Canterbury.

John Battely was born on 11 November 1646 in the Parish of St. James, Bury St. Edmunds. His father, Nicholas Battely, was an apothecary. After his education at the King Edward VI Grammar School, Bury St. Edmunds, he was admitted to Trinity College, Cambridge in 1662 (B.A. 1665–6; Fellow, 1668; M.A. 1669; D.D. 1684).^[3] He was ordained at Ely in 1675 and became domestic chaplain to Archbishop Sancroft and subsequently to Archbishop Tillotson.^[4]

Battely was Rector of Hunton in Norfolk 1682–1684, and on 19 November 1684 he became Rector of Adisham in Kent. It was probably at this time that Battely began his research at Richborough Castle. In 1687, however, Battely returned to East Anglia. He was made Archdeacon of Suffolk, which entitled him to a stall at Norwich Cathedral and gave him nominal pastoral oversight of his native county. He was installed as Archdeacon of Canterbury on 24 March 1688 and became Master of the Eastbridge Hospital in the same year.^[4] On 5 November 1688 (the same day William of Orange landed at Torbay), he became a canon of Canterbury Cathedral (Stall I), and on 10 November he subscribed to the Articles of Religion. John Battely died on 10 October 1708 and his papers were inherited by his nephew Oliver Battely. In 1711 Oliver published the work on Richborough, before co-operating with Sir James Burrough to print the work on Bury St. Edmunds in 1745.

Sources

John Battely (ed. Oliver Battely), Antiquitates Rutupinae (Oxford, 1745)
John Battely (ed. Oliver Battely), Antiquitates S. Edmundi Burgi ad Annum MCCXXII Perductae (Oxford, 1745)

References

^ "Batteley, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
^ Acta Eruditorum. Leipzig. 1712. p. 185.
^ "Battely, John (BTLY662J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ ^a ^b C. S. Knighton, 'Batteley, John (bap. 1646, d. 1708)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [1], retrieved 9 January 2010

[1] "Batteley, John" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.

[2] Acta Eruditorum. Leipzig. 1712. p. 185.

[3] "Battely, John (BTLY662J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.

[ODNB-4] C. S. Knighton, 'Batteley, John (bap. 1646, d. 1708)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [1], retrieved 9 January 2010

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v t e Archdeacons of Suffolk
High Medieval	Roger de Beaufeu Walkelin Geoffrey Robert de Tywa Alexander de Walpole Roger Pincerna William de Horham William de Dunton John of Alvechurch Thomas Lenebaud Thomas de Skerning Sayerus
Late Medieval	Simon de Ely Alan de Ely William de Knapton John de Fenton Richard Lyng Michael Northburgh William de Fieschi Francis de St Maximo Hélie Cardinal de Talleyrand-Périgord John de Carleton William Graa de Trusthope Carleton John de Ufford John Aleyn John Clervaus Guillaume Cardinal Noellet Eleazario Cardinal de Sabrano Philippe Cardinal Valois d'Alençon Clervaus William de Malebys Thomas de Shirford Henry Sturdy Robert Foulmere John Thorpe John Franks Richard Beauchamp Henry Trevilian William Pykenham Nicholas Goldwell John Dolman Thomas Wynter Edmund Steward Richard Sampson John Skypp William Ryvell
Early modern	Elizeus Ferreys Robert Rugge Nicholas Wendon John Maplesden Robert Pearson Robert Bostock Richard Mileson Laurence Womack Godfrey King John Battely Humphrey Prideaux David Wilkins Richard Warren Henry Goodall John Strachey Henry Berners Thomas Ormerod
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