Edward Willes (bishop)

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Edward Willes as Bishop of Bath and Wells

Bishop Edward Willes (6 March 1693 – 24 November 1773) was Anglican Bishop of St. Davids and later Bath and Wells and one of the most prominent English cryptanalysts of his time.

He was educated at Oriel College, Oxford and graduated with a BA degree in 1712.

In 1716 he became a Decipherer for George II, and distinguished himself by deciphering messages between Swedish diplomats which were sympathetic to the Jacobite cause. He was rewarded by the government by being granted the living of Barton in the Clay, Bedfordshire, which he held between 1718 and 1730.

He subsequently deciphered the correspondence between Francis Atterbury, Bishop of Rochester, and Jacobite exiles abroad between 1719 and 1722. His evidence at the trial led to the conviction and exile of Atterbury, and led to his being appointed a Canon of Westminster Abbey.

In 1743 he became bishop of St. Davids and in 1744 he became Bishop of Bath and Wells. During his episcopate he undertook some repairs to the Bishop's Palace in Wells.

He died in London in 1773, and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

References

• David Kahn, The Codebreakers, 1968.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article, [1]