FLEETWOOD, WILLIAM: English prelate; in London Jan. 1, 1656; d. at Tottenham (6 in. n.n.e. of St. Paul's, London) Aug. 4, 1723. studied at Eton, and at King's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1679; M.A., 1683; D.D., 1705). Soon after taking orders he won renown by a sermon delivered before King's College, Mar. 25, 1689, in commemoration of Edward VI., the founder of the college. He was given a fellowship at Eton, the chapter rectory of St. Augustine and St. Faith's, London (Nov. 26, 1689), and soon afterward the lectureship of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West. He held liberal political views and favored the revolution. Shortly after the accession of William and Mary he was appointed chaplain to the king, and in 1702 cannon of Windsor. In 1705 he exchanged his London preferments for the living of Wexham in Buckinghamshire. Despite his opposition to her favorite political party, Queen Anne made him bishop of St. Asaph in 1708; and in 1714 Geo. I. translated him to the see of Ely. For his attacks on the Jacobite tendencies of the Tory government in 1712 he was threatened with impeachment and the House of Commons voted that the preface of a volume of sermons he had just published be burned by the public hangman. Besides a number of sermons and charges to the clergy, Fleetwood's works include, Inscriptionum antiquarium sylloge (London, 1691), a collection of Christian and pagan inscriptions; An Essay on Miracles (1701); and Chronicon pretiosum (1707), an investigation of the value of money and commodities for the previous six centuries. His sermons may be found in his Works (London, 1737; new ed., 3 vols., Oxford, 1854).