Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Sherwood, William

601478Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 52 — Sherwood, William1897Charles Lethbridge Kingsford

SHERWOOD, WILLIAM (d. 1482), bishop of Meath, was an Englishman who was papally provided to the bishopric of Meath in 1460. In 1464 he had a quarrel with the deputy, d|Thomas|FitzGerald}}, eighth earl of Desmond [q. v.], some of whose followers were said to have been murdered at the instigation of the bishop. Desmond and Sherwood both went to England to lay the matter before the king, and the former was for the time successful. The bishop is said to have inspired the opposition which led to Desmond's attainder and execution on 14 Feb. 1468. In 1475 Sherwood was appointed deputy for George, duke of Clarence, but his rule excited much opposition, and in 1477 he was removed from office. He was also chancellor of Ireland from 1475 to 1481. Sherwood died at Dublin on 3 Dec. 1482, and was buried at Newtown Abbey, near Trim.

[Annals of Ireland, in Irish Archæological Miscellany, p. 253; Annals of the Four Masters, v. 1035, 1051; Register of St. Thomas's, Dublin, p. 423 (Rolls Ser.); Ware's Works, ii. 150, ed. Harris; Cotton's Fasti Eccl. Hib. iii. 114; Leland's History of Ireland, ii. 52, 62–3; Gilbert's Viceroys of Ireland, pp. 380, 399, 407.]

C. L. K.