Atterbury, Francis (1662-1732)

English Anglican cleric and Jacobite politician. He enjoyed royal patronage and was made bishop of Rochester 1713. However, his Jacobite sympathies prevented his further rise, and in 1722 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and subsequently banished.

Atterbury was ordained priest 1687. He swore allegiance to William III after the revolution of 1688, and became royal chaplain. In 1701 he was made archdeacon, and during the reign of Queen Anne he received rapid promotion, becoming dean of Christ Church 1712, bishop of Rochester and dean of Westminster 1713. In exile from 1722, he entered the service of James Edward Stuart, t he Old Pretender, and died in France.