Francis Atterbury was born on 6 March 1663 at Milton (or Middleton) Keynes in Buckinghamshire, the second son of the Revd. Lewis Atterbury (drowned in1693) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1668), daughter of Francis Giffard. He was educated at Westminster school and Christ Church, Oxford. Ordained in 1687 he soon became a well-known preacher. Having been a Canon of Exeter, Dean of Carlisle and of Christ Church he was appointed Dean of Westminster in 1713. This office was held with that of the bishopric of Rochester at this period. During his time at the Abbey he was involved in the rebuilding of the School dormitory, superintended Wren’s restoration of the north front and chose the subjects for the glass in the north rose window. In 1695 he married Catherine Osborne and had one son and two daughters. He was a High Churchman and a Tory and although he officiated at the coronation of George I he lost favour under the Hanoverians. In 1722 he was arrested at the Deanery and taken to the Tower of London, charged with conspiracy to set the Jacobite Pretender on the throne. He was deprived of his offices and sent to Paris in permanent exile, where he died on 22 February 1732. By his own wish his body was returned to the Abbey for burial with his wife and daughters at the west end of the nave. The inscription on the stone reads:
"Francis Atterbury, Dean of Westminster and Bishop of Rochester born March 6th 1663. Died at Paris Feby.22 buried here May 12th 1732. Also Elizabeth, his daughter, died 1716. His wife Catherine, died 1722. And his daughter Mary, wife of William Morice, High Bailiff of Westminster. Died at Toulouse Novr. 8th 1729. Buried Feby.21st 1730."
An epitaph he had written himself was not permitted to be inscribed on the stone and no monument was erected for him.
His only son Osborne was born 3 March 1705. He failed at university and became a merchant seaman, travelling to Barbados, India and China. On his return to England he was ordained and became Rector of Great Houghton in Northamptonshire, where he was buried in 1752. He married Sarah Ashworth and had nine children, most of whom died young, although his son Francis continued the family tradition of entering the Church.
The Dean's brother Lewis (1656-1731) was also an eminent clergyman. He married Penelope Bedingfield and had three children.
Further reading:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) for Francis, his father and brother.
“Francis Atterbury” by H.C.Beeching, (1909).
“The Tory Crisis in Church and State ...the career of Francis Atterbury” by G.V.Bennett (1975).
A portrait can be viewed on the website of the National Portrait Gallery, London.