Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 13.djvu/76

 dilapidated state into which it had fallen, partly by the mischief done in 1642 and partly by neglect, presenting the church with a brass lectern and bible and putting up a painted window at the west end, for which he paid 140l. , the whole cost of his gifts amounting to 300l. (, Wells Cathedral). He preached often before the king and before the House of Commons, and Evelyn, who gives several notices of his sermons, says he was 'most eloquent' (Diary, i. 358). Pepys, who also admired his preaching, nevertheless calls him 'the most comical man that ever I heard in my life; just such a man as Hugh Peters,' and gives a description of a very plain-spoken sermon he heard from 'the great Scotchman' on 7 March 1662 on the subject of the neglect of 'the poor cavalier' (, Diary, i. 332). While Creighton's preaching was learned it was evidently full of freshness and energy. He was a fearless man, and in July 1667 preached 'a strange bold sermon' before the king 'against the sins of the court, and particularly against adultery,. . . and of our negligence in having our castles without ammunition and powder when the Dutch came upon us; and how we had no courage nowadays, but let our ships be taken out of our harbour' (ib. iv. 140). The king liked him the better for this boldness. On 22 June 1663 Creighton took the oaths for his naturalisation. On 25 May 1670 he was elected bishop of Bath and Wells and consecrated 19 June following. He died on 21 Nov. 1672, and was buried in St. John's Chapel in his cathedral. His marble tomb and effigy had been prepared by himself at great expense. Some time after 1639, when he was still fellow of Trinity, he married Frances, daughter of William Walrond, who survived until 30 Oct. 1683. By her he had Robert Creighton [q. v.] Besides contributing to the Cambridge collection of verses on the death of James I, Creighton published 'Vera Historia Unionis inter Graecos et Latinos sive Concilii Florentini exactissima narratio,' a translation into Latin from the Greek of Sgoropulos, the Hague, 1660, with a long preface; this was answered by the Jesuit Leo Allatius 'In R. Creygtoni apparatum versionem et notas,' Rome, 1674 (earlier editions of both these works must have appeared, comp. Evelyn's 'Diary,' i. 253), and to this Creighton made a reply. Wood also speaks of some published sermons. A portrait of Creighton is in the palace at Wells. The bishop's name is sometimes spelt Creeton and in various other ways.

 CREIGHTON or CREYGHTON, ROBERT (1639?–1734), precentor of Wells, was the son of Robert Creighton, bishop of Bath and Wells [q. v.] He was born about 1639, and probably went into exile with his father. In 1662 he took the degree of M.A. at Cambridge, where he was elected fellow of Trinity College and professor of Greek. The latter post he seems to have held for only one year, as in 1663 Le Neve (Fasti, ed. Hardy, vol. iii.) gives the name of James Valentine as professor, though according to Chamberlayne (Present State of England) he was professor until 1674. From 1662 to 1667 he was prebendary of Timberscomb, Wells, and on 3 April 1667 he was appointed to the prebendal stall of Yatton in the same cathedral. On 2 Jan. 1667–8 Creighton was recommended by royal letters of Charles II for a canonry in the cathedral on a vacancy occurring, and on 2 May 1674 he was made canon, and on the same day installed as precentor. In 1678 he received the degree of D.D. at Cambridge, and in 1682 published a sermon on the ‘Vanity of the Dissenters' Plea for their Separation from the Church of England,’ which he had preached before the king at Windsor. The ‘Examen Poeticum Duplex’ of 1698 also contains three Latin poems from his pen. In 1719 he gave an organ to the parish of Southover, Wells, and on two occasions gave sums to the almshouses in the same parish. He died at Wells 17 Feb. 1733–4, and was buried there on the 22nd following. Creighton is now solely remembered as a musician. He was taught music at an early age, and was passionately devoted to its pursuit. Burney's statement (iii. 599) that he was once a gentleman in the chapel of Charles II must be a mistake, unless it refers to the time when he was in exile. He wrote a few services and anthems, which, though not very powerful nor original, are exceedingly good music, and are still frequently performed. Creighton was a married man, and had a family, several members of which were connected with Wells during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. [Le Neve's Fasti, ed. Hardy, i. 181, &c., iii. 614, 660 (the statement at p. 660 of the last volume, that the Robert Creighton who was Greek professor at Cambridge in 1662 afterwards became bishop of Bath and Wells, is an error. The bishop