Billingsley, John (1625-09-14 - 1683-05-30)

Matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford in 1642. Admitted to St John's College, Cambridge, from which he earned a B.A. (1648). He went to Corpus Christi College, Oxford in 1648 on a Kentish fellowship, earning an M.A. (1649). Ordained in 1649. Vicar of Faringdon, Berkshire in 1650. Vicar of Addingham, Cumberland in 1652, and of Chesterfield, Derbyshire from 1654 until 1662, when he was ejected for failing to use the Book of Common Prayer. He moved to Mansfield, Nottinghamshire in 1665, returning secretly to Chesterfield to preach once every two weeks. In 1672 he was licensed as Presbyterian to preach in Mansfield and Nottingham. Late in his life he set up an academy for dissenters in Mansfield.