William Whittingham

William Whittingham was an English Puritan, a Marian exile, and a translator of the Geneva Bible. He was well connected to the circles around John Knox, Heinrich Bullinger and John Calvin, and firmly resisted the continuance of the English liturgy during the Marian exile. At last, he was ordained by the Presbyterians in Geneva. Upon his return to England, he became a well-known opponent to the rites of the Church of England. Through the patronage of the Earl of Leicester, he was collated to the Deanery of Durham, but in 1579 action was started to deprive him of all holy orders on account of his Presbyterian ordination. The process of deprivation was in under way when Whittingham died in 1579. The full record of Whittingham's appointment and trial may be found in Strype's Annals, II.ii., pp. 167, 168, 620.