Fleetwood, William (1656-01-01 - 1723-08-04)

Born in the Tower of London on 1 January 1656 to Anne Fleetwood and Captain Geoffrey Fleetwood, an ordinance officer of the tower. He matriculated from King's College, Cambridge in 1675; proceeded BA in 1679, MA in 1683, DD in 1705. His earned a reputation as an effective preacher and was appointed rector of St Augustine, London in in November 1689 and lecturer of St Dunstan-in-the-West later that year. In 1690 he married Anne Smith of St Giles Cripplegate. Around this time, as his reputation as a preacher grew, he was appointed as chaplain-in-ordinary to William III. Instituted rector of Wexham, Buckinghamshire in 1706, he remained in favour with the new Queen Anne and was appointed Bishop of St Asaph in 1708. He had strongly whig sympathies which helped him earn a translation to Ely following the Hanoverian succession in 1714. He died at Tottenham, Middlesex on 4 August 1723.