Arthur Bury, Oxford, 1690
Arthur Bury
1624-1714
Rector of Exeter College, Oxford
Bury, a vicar’s son, went up to Exeter College, Oxford in 1639, aged 15. He was awarded the degree of BA in 1642 and subsequently elected a Fellow of the college.
He was a strong royalist and during the civil war helped in the defence of Oxford for the King. Consequently, in 1648, he was expelled from the city and lived out the remainder of the war and the Cromwellian peace in relative quiet with his father in Devonshire.
He married Mary Southcott, a widow, and became Rector of Duloe in Cornwall. As a Royalist he was turned out of this living in 1649 and returned to it after the war.
The restoration of the monarchy also meant the restoration of his fellowship, and Bury returned to his College. In May 1662 he was elected Rector [head] of the College, on the recommendation of Archbishop Tillotson and the explicit instruction of King Charles II despite the Fellows’ ingrained resentment of external interference in their internal affairs.
On June 22nd that same year Bury was made a Bachelor of Divinity and, five days later, Doctor of Divinity.
He was not regarded as a success as Rector, though he donated large amounts to improving college buildings, including his own lodgings.
The Visitor (the external scrutineer and authority) was the Bishop of Exeter, Jonathan Trelawny [Wiki]: the two men crossed swords on several occasions.
In 1675 Bury was accused of ‘general laxity’. He was accused of rigging elections for fellowships. In 1669 he suspended five men from their fellowships on one day. In 1689 he falsely accused one James Colmer of having fathered a child in order to exclude him from consideration as a fellow of the college. And when the Bishop arrived to restore Colmer and resolve other issues, he found the front gate locked and barred against him; he was let in through a side gate. A blazing row between the two men followed. The Bishop appealed to the Privy Council.
In April 1690 The Naked Gospel was published. The printer had demurred as the book was not licensed for publication. However Bury was also pro-vice-chancellor of the university which gave him authority to licence his own work.
The book argued for a primitive Christianity, unencumbered by later burdens such as the doctrine of the Trinity which, he said, was irrelevant, inclined to foster disputes instead of unity, and a distraction from practical holiness.
But in publishing the book he had given his enemies a stick large enough to beat him with. In the Convocation of the University (its supreme council and a court) The Naked Gospel was considered, condemned and, on August 19 1690, publicly burnt in front of his college.
Bury then brought out an amended version with additional explanation but this cut no ice.
The Bishop returned to Exeter College and on July 26th 1690 Bury was expelled. Bury appealed to the courts and remained in the college until legal proceedings were exhausted.
In June 1693 William Paynter, was appointed rector of Exeter College by the bishop of Exeter. But Bury still refused to leave and fought the appointment in the court of the Kings Bench. He was an accomplished litigant. In November 1694 he petitioned for further delay: “Rector of Exeter College in the University of Oxford, praying for longer time to join issue, the Record being so long that he cannot yet get a Copy of it.” The bishop of Exeter also submitted his petition.
Finally, in January 1695, the House of Lords decided the case. They confirmed Bury’s deprivation of office and he was duly and finally expelled from his college.
Bury seems to have spent his life on the wrong side of a siege. Defeated by Cromwell in Oxford he retreated to the West Country. Raised with the Restoration to the Rectorship of Exeter College he chose the wrong theological cause and found himself beleaguered once more. He barred the door against the Visitor who came in on a side-wind and judged him unsuited for office. Holed up in the Master’s lodge he discharged every legal device he could find in order to cling to his post. Finally, weapons and ammunition exhausted, he was winkled out of office and took himself off to live in Westminster where he remained until his death in Somerset in 1713.
Bibliography (APA) Publications by Arthur Bury
Further information
ODNB (Requires subscription): https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/4146
DNB (1911) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bury
Worldcat: https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n84121472/
Rector of Exeter College, Oxford
He was a strong royalist and during the civil war helped in the defence of Oxford for the King. Consequently, in 1648, he was expelled from the city and lived out the remainder of the war and the Cromwellian peace in relative quiet with his father in Devonshire.
He married Mary Southcott, a widow, and became Rector of Duloe in Cornwall. As a Royalist he was turned out of this living in 1649 and returned to it after the war.
The restoration of the monarchy also meant the restoration of his fellowship, and Bury returned to his College. In May 1662 he was elected Rector [head] of the College, on the recommendation of Archbishop Tillotson and the explicit instruction of King Charles II despite the Fellows’ ingrained resentment of external interference in their internal affairs.
On June 22nd that same year Bury was made a Bachelor of Divinity and, five days later, Doctor of Divinity.
He was not regarded as a success as Rector, though he donated large amounts to improving college buildings, including his own lodgings.
The Visitor (the external scrutineer and authority) was the Bishop of Exeter, Jonathan Trelawny [Wiki]: the two men crossed swords on several occasions.
In 1675 Bury was accused of ‘general laxity’. He was accused of rigging elections for fellowships. In 1669 he suspended five men from their fellowships on one day. In 1689 he falsely accused one James Colmer of having fathered a child in order to exclude him from consideration as a fellow of the college. And when the Bishop arrived to restore Colmer and resolve other issues, he found the front gate locked and barred against him; he was let in through a side gate. A blazing row between the two men followed. The Bishop appealed to the Privy Council.
In April 1690 The Naked Gospel was published. The printer had demurred as the book was not licensed for publication. However Bury was also pro-vice-chancellor of the university which gave him authority to licence his own work.
The book argued for a primitive Christianity, unencumbered by later burdens such as the doctrine of the Trinity which, he said, was irrelevant, inclined to foster disputes instead of unity, and a distraction from practical holiness.
But in publishing the book he had given his enemies a stick large enough to beat him with. In the Convocation of the University (its supreme council and a court) The Naked Gospel was considered, condemned and, on August 19 1690, publicly burnt in front of his college.
Bury then brought out an amended version with additional explanation but this cut no ice.
The Bishop returned to Exeter College and on July 26th 1690 Bury was expelled. Bury appealed to the courts and remained in the college until legal proceedings were exhausted.
In June 1693 William Paynter, was appointed rector of Exeter College by the bishop of Exeter. But Bury still refused to leave and fought the appointment in the court of the Kings Bench. He was an accomplished litigant. In November 1694 he petitioned for further delay: “Rector of Exeter College in the University of Oxford, praying for longer time to join issue, the Record being so long that he cannot yet get a Copy of it.” The bishop of Exeter also submitted his petition.
Finally, in January 1695, the House of Lords decided the case. They confirmed Bury’s deprivation of office and he was duly and finally expelled from his college.
Bury seems to have spent his life on the wrong side of a siege. Defeated by Cromwell in Oxford he retreated to the West Country. Raised with the Restoration to the Rectorship of Exeter College he chose the wrong theological cause and found himself beleaguered once more. He barred the door against the Visitor who came in on a side-wind and judged him unsuited for office. Holed up in the Master’s lodge he discharged every legal device he could find in order to cling to his post. Finally, weapons and ammunition exhausted, he was winkled out of office and took himself off to live in Westminster where he remained until his death in Somerset in 1713.
Bibliography (APA) Publications by Arthur Bury
- The naked gospel: Discovering I. What was the gospel which our Lord and his apostles preached, II. What additions and alterations latter ages have made in it, III. What advantages and damages have thereupon ensued : Part I. Of Faith, and therein, of the Holy Trinity, the incarnation of our Blessed Saviour, and the resurrection of the body. London: Printed for Nathanael Ranew. Bury, A. (1691).
- The Account examined, or, A vindication of Dr. Arthur Bury, Rector of Exeter College, from the calumnies of a late pamphlet, entituled, An account of the proceedings of the Right Reverend Father in God, Jonathan, Lord Bishop of Exon, in his late visitation of Exeter College in Oxon. (1690). London: Printed, and are to be sold by Randall Taylor. Bury, A. (1689). To avoid the intolerable drudgery of giving full satisfaction by a several letter to every one that may deserve and desire it: The rector of Exeter College hath taken this way to give an account of the unhappy affair which hath drawn clamors, as decry him and his assessors in behalf of one of the fellows, who they say is injuriously, or at least too severely expelled. Oxford: s.n.
- The case of Exeter-Colledge in the University of Oxford related and vindicated. London: Printed and are to be sold by Randal Tayler. Related contemporary publications Harrington, J. (1690).
- An account of the proceedings of the Right Reverend Father in God Jonathan Lord Bishop of Exeter in his late visitation of Exeter college in Oxford. Oxford: Printed at the theatre. Harrington, J. (1691). A defence of the proceedings of the Right Reverend the visitor and fellows of Exeter College in Oxford: With an answer to : 1. The case of Exeter College related and vindicated, 2. The account examin'd. London: Printed for Tho. Bennet. Exeter college [Oxford] case: Philips ver. Bury. (1694). London?: publisher not identified.
Further information
ODNB (Requires subscription): https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/4146
DNB (1911) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography
Wiki: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Bury
Worldcat: https://www.worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n84121472/
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Comments and corrections are welcome. But please note that the focus is on the historical examination of heresy cases, not the rights and wrongs of the theology..