Felton, Nicholas (1556-03-25 - 1626-10-05)

Nicholas Felton (1556-1626) was Bishop of Ely. He was one of three sons of John Felton, merchant of Great Yarmouth (d. 1602). In 1577, he was admitted to Queens’ College, Cambridge, proceeding B.A. in 1581. He moved to Pembroke College, where he became a fellow in 1583 and Greek lecturer in 1586. He proceeded M.A. in 1584, B.Th. in 1591, and D.Th. in 1602. Felton was ordained deacon and priest by Bishop John Howland of Peterborough on 15 August 1589. He served as rector of St Helen Bishopsgate, St Antholin, and St Mary le Bow in London during the 1590s until his elevation to the episcopate in 1617. Felton was probably chaplain to Elizabeth I from the 1590s, and retained his chaplaincy under James I. He succeeded his friend Lancelot Andrewes both as Master of Pembroke College on 5 July 1616 and as Bishop of Ely on 11 March 1619. Felton died on 5 October 1626, ten days after the death of Andrewes. He was buried at St Antholin. Tributes to the preacher include a series of iambic, elegiac verses penned by the young John Milton (‘In obitum Praesulis Eliensis’, 1626).