Bodley, Laurence (1548-03-25 - 1615-04-19)

Born in 1547/8 to John and Joan Bodley, Exeter merchants, a family of strongly Protestant convictions who fled to the continent during the reign of Mary Tudor. The family returned to England in 1559 and Laurence entered Christ Church, Oxford as a student in 1561. BA, Jan. 1565/6; MA, 1568; returned to Switzerland ca. 1575 to study at the University of Basel, from where he returned in 1576. Rector of Sampford Peverrell, Devon, 1579; canon of Wells and of Exeter, 1580; rector of Shobrooke, Devon, 1582; of Hinton St George and of Sevenhampton, both Sommerset, 1581. Made DD in 1613. Never married and died 19 April 1615.