John Knightbridge 1619/20-1677

John KNIGHTBRIDGE 1619/20-1677

Biographical Note

Son of John Knightbridge, attorney of Chelmsford, Essex. BA Wadham College, Oxford 1641, fellow of Peterhouse 1645, BD 1655, DD 1673. Lecturer at St Nicholas, Newcastle 1657, rector of Spofforth, Yorkshire 1659, of Holy Trinity, Dorchester 1663.

Books

In his will, Knightbridge made various monetary bequests around his family, and left property to Wadham College and Peterhouse, requiring the latter to establish a professorship in moral theology. His books were not specifically mentioned, but were part of the residue of his estate, to be given to such "pious and charitable uses" as his executor decided. As a result, ca. 600 volumes of his were given by his brother Anthony to create a parish library at Chelmsford. Ca 400 books remain today, now housed in Chelmsford Cathedral Library; the contents are largely theological, a mixture of 16th and 17th century imprints.

Sources

• Will of John Knightbridge, The National Archives PROB 11/358/23.
• Chelmsford Cathedral Library.
• Goodwin, Gordon, and T. P. J. Edlin, '"Knightbridge, John (1619/20–1677), Church of England clergyman and founder of the Knightbridge professorship in moral theology at Cambridge'." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography".
• Perkin, M., A directory of the parochial libraries of the Church of England, London, 2004, 173.