# Bishop of Peterborough

The Bishop of Peterborough is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury.
The diocese covers the counties of Northamptonshire (including the Soke of Peterborough) and Rutland. The see is in the City of Peterborough, where the bishop's seat (cathedra) is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew. The bishop's residence is Bishop's Lodging, The Palace, Peterborough. The office has been in existence since the foundation of the diocese on 4 September 1541 under King Henry VIII.
The current Bishop of Peterborough is Debbie Sellin, since the confirmation, on 13 December 2023 at Lambeth Palace Chapel, of her election.
As parts of the City of Peterborough are actually in the Diocese of Ely (those parishes south of the River Nene), the last Bishop of Peterborough was appointed as an assistant bishop in the Diocese of Ely with pastoral care for these parishes delegated to him by the Bishop of Ely.

## List of bishops

Chronological list of the Bishops of Peterborough:
Bishops of Peterborough :
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| 1541 | 1556 | John Chambers | Last Abbot of Peterborough Abbey. Died in office |
| 1557 | 1559 | David Pole | Deposed |
| 1560 | 1585 | Edmund Scambler | Translated to Norwich |
| 1585 | 1600 | Richard Howland | Died in office |
| 1601 | 1630 | Thomas Dove | Died in office |
| 1630 | 1632 | William Piers | Translated to Bath & Wells |
| 1633 | 1634 | Augustine Lindsell | Translated to Hereford |
| 1634 | 1638 | Francis Dee | Died in office |
| 1639 | 1646 | John Towers | Deprived of the see when the English episcopacy was abolished by Parliament on 9 October 1646; died 1649. |
| 1646 | 1660 | The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. | The see was abolished during the Commonwealth and the Protectorate. |
| 1660 | 1663 | Benjamin Lany | Translated to Lincoln |
| 1663 | 1679 | Joseph Henshaw | Died in office |
| 1679 | 1685 | William Lloyd | Translated from Llandaff; translated to Norwich |
| 1685 | 1690 | Thomas White | Deprived of office |
| 1691 | 1718 | Richard Cumberland | Died in office |
| 1718 | 1728 | White Kennett | Died in office |
| 1729 | 1747 | Robert Clavering | Translated from Llandaff; died in office |
| 1747 | 1757 | John Thomas | Translated to Salisbury |
| 1757 | 1764 | Richard Terrick | Translated to London |
| 1764 | 1769 | Robert Lamb | Died in office |
| 1769 | 1794 | John Hinchliffe | Died in office |
| 1794 | 1813 | Spencer Madan | Translated from Bristol; died in office |
| 1813 | 1819 | John Parsons | Died in office |
| 1819 | 1839 | Herbert Marsh | Translated from Llandaff; died in office |
| 1839 | 1864 | George Davys | Died in office |
| 1864 | 1868 | Francis Jeune | Died in office |
| 1868 | 1891 | William Connor Magee | Translated to York |
| 1891 | 1897 | Mandell Creighton | Translated to London |
| 1897 | 1916 | Edward Carr Glyn | John Mitchinson, assistant bishop once acted diocesan bishop during Carr-Glyn's illness. |
| 1916 | 1923 | Theodore Woods | Translated to Winchester |
| 1924 | 1927 | Cyril Bardsley | Translated to Leicester |
| 1927 | 1949 | Claude Blagden | |
| 1949 | 1956 | Spencer Leeson | Died in office |
| 1956 | 1961 | Robert Stopford | Previously Bishop of Fulham; translated to London |
| 1961 | 1972 | Cyril Easthaugh | Previously Bishop of Kensington |
| 1972 | 1984 | Douglas Feaver | |
| 1984 | 1995 | Bill Westwood | Previously suffragan Bishop of Edmonton (London) |
| 1996 | 2009 | Ian Cundy | Died in office |
| 2010 | 2023 | Donald Allister | Previously Archdeacon of Chester. |
| 2023 | 2023 | John Holbrook (acting) | Bishop of Brixworth. |
| 2023 | present | Debbie Sellin | Translated from Southampton, 13 December 2023. |

## Assistant bishops

Among those called "Assistant Bishop of Peterborough" were:
* August 1881 – November 1900: John Mitchinson (Rector of Sibstone then Master of Pembroke College, Oxford)
* 1912–1917 (d.): Lewis Clayton, Canon residentiary of Peterborough Cathedral and former Bishop suffragan of Leicester
* 1926 – 1945 (ret.): Norman Lang, Canon residentiary of Peterborough Cathedral; Archdeacon of Northampton (until 1936), of Oakham (thereafter); and former Bishop suffragan of Leicester (resigned his suffragan See due to the erection of the Diocese of Leicester, but continued in essentially the same role)
* 1950 – 1963: Charles Aylen, Vicar of Flore (1945–58) and non-residentiary Canon of Peterborough (1946–61); former Bishop of St Helena
* 1952–1957 (res.): Gerald Vernon, Vicar of Finedon and former Bishop of Madagascar
* 1957–1969 (d.): Weston Stewart, Rector of Cottesmore, Rutland until 1964 and former Bishop in Jerusalem
* 1978 – 1986 (ret.): William Franklin. former Bishop of Colombia
Honorary assistant bishops — retired bishops taking on occasional duties voluntarily — have included:
* 1974–1978 (d.): Guy Marshall, Vicar of Blakesley with Adstone, former suffragan Bishop in Venezuela (Diocese of Trinidad and Tobago)
* 1975–1984 (res.): Alan Rogers, retired Bishop of Fulham and of Edmonton
* 1981–1985 Paul Burrough, Rector of Empingham, Rutland and retired Bishop of Mashonaland.