Joseph Bingham
1668-1723. Church historian. Born at Wakefield and educated at University College, Oxford, where he became fellow (1689) and tutor (1691), he was expelled for heresy in 1695 after preaching a sermon on the terms “Person” and “Substance” concerning the Godhead. He became rector of Headbournworthy, near Winchester, where he remained until 1712 when he removed to Havant, near Portsmouth. He lost most of his meager savings in the South Sea Bubble (a speculation hoax) in 1720. He spent much of his life writing Antiquities of the Christian Church (10 vols., 1708-22), a work of lasting value. Later he advocated reunion of the Christian churches on the basis of apostolic episcopacy. His collected works were published in 1855.