Head of the chapter of Canons at St Peter's Collegiate Church
St Peter's, Wolverhampton
The Dean of Wolverhampton was the head of the chapter of canons at St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, until the chapter was disestablished in 1846. The collegiate church was, until that point, a royal peculiar falling outside of the diocesan and provincial structures of the Church of England. Today, the church is district church within a team parish led by a rector, although it has its own vicar and curate within the team. It is now part of the Diocese of Lichfield.
List of deans
The deanery was probably established in the mid-12th century, along the lines adopted at Lichfield Cathedral, as the church was in episcopal hands at that time. The names of earlier heads of the chapter and any deans before Peter of Blois have not survived. Samson, William the Conqueror's chaplain was feudal overlord of the canons, but there is no evidence he headed the chapter and he was not ordained priest until he became bishop of Worcester. The following were deans of Wolverhampton before the post became assimilated to the deanery of Windsor, around 1480.[1]
1846 Deanery abolished (on the death of Henry Hobart)
References
^Victoria County History - Staffordshire: Vol. 3, no. 44: M W Greenslade, R B Pugh (Editors), G C Baugh, Revd L W Cowie, Revd J C Dickinson, A P Duggan, A K B Evans, R H Evans, Una C Hannam, P Heath, D A Johnston, Professor Hilda Johnstone, Ann J Kettle, J L Kirby, Revd R Mansfield, Professor A Saltman (1970): Victoria County History: A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 3, no. 44, Colleges: Wolverhampton, St Peter.