Menu
Guildford Heritage Forum
  • Home Page
Guildford Heritage Forum

George Abbot

George Abbot (1562-1633) is arguably Guildford’s most famous son. He was born and educated in the town, became Archbishop of Canterbury of translator of the King James I Authorised Version of the Bible in 1611. Note only did he achieve success and fame but he left his mark on the town in the form of the distinctive Abbott’s Hospital at the top of the High Street. He is also buried opposite in the Holy Trinity Church. 

He was born by the River Wey in a timber framed cottage that survived until the nineteenth century. His father, Maurice Abbot (died 1606) was a cloth-worker. According to legend his when Abbot’s mother was pregnant with him she had a dream in which she was told that if she ate a pike her child would be a son and rise to great prominence. Some time afterwards she accidentally caught a pike while fetching water from the River Wey and it “being reported to some gentlemen in the neighbourhood, they offered to stand sponsors for the child, and afterwards shewed him many marks of favour. He was taught at the Royal Grammar School in the High Street, studied at Oxford, became Master of University College Oxfordin 1597 and Dean of Winchester in 1600. He took a leading part in the translation of the bible for the Kings James I version published in 1611. This became the official version of the bible used in all churches until the advent of modern translations in the 20th century. 

In 1611 he became Archbishop of Canterbury serving King James I until is last days. He performed the coronation ceremony for Charles I but fell out with the King and was live  his last years in the background. He founded the Abbot’s Hospital in Guildford High Street in 1619 

Recent Posts

  • Guildford Streets
  • Historic Images
  • History Resources
  • Decolonisation
  • Walks & Talks

Recent Comments

  • Gillian Cameron on Can heritage help post Covid-19 Guildford?

Archives

  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • April 2019

Cat

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org
©2021 Guildford Heritage Forum | Powered by SuperbThemes & WordPress