Henry Compton

1632-1713. Bishop of London. Son of the earl of Northampton, he was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, served in the army, and then was ordained and became rector of Cottenham, near Cambridge. He was consecrated as bishop of Oxford in 1674 and was transferred to the see of London the following year. He was appointed tutor to the princesses Mary and Anne. Compton was a leading advocate of tolerance and comprehension toward Protestant nonconformists, but his hostility to Rome led James II to find an excuse to suspend him. He signed the invitation to William of Orange and officiated at his coronation (his old position having been restored to him). He was selected to help revise the liturgy, was one of the commissioners to arrange the union between England and Scotland, was a privy councillor under Queen Anne, but was twice passed over for the primacy. He wrote several theological works and supported the newly founded Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.