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I am trying to write the article on William Cockburn (Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet), Dean of York. For such an interesting story there is so little. There is nothing in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed 2007-08-20) save to say that his nephew Sir Alexander Cockburn defended him against a charge of simony, a claim substantiated nowhere else. There are fragments in The Times but it is slightly incoherent. It appears that, after York Minster burned down in 1840, as it so often does, the deanery was bankrupt and there was a public appeal. There was a subsequent investigation into the conduct and management of the proceeds and a Rev Dixon accused Cockburn of simony. Cockurn was accused of selling benefices which he freely admitted (The Times, 25 Jan 1841, p.6 cols.e-f). Cockburn was deposed as Dean sine die (The Times, 5 April 1841, p.5 col.e). A barrister, not Cockburn's nephew, tried to get a writ to prohibit the order but failed. I can find no more until notice of his death (Times 3 May 1858) when he is described as "Dean of York". Also, Institute of Historical ResearchDates says he was Dean until 1858. Don't want to go into original research but I suspect York newspapers are needed. Or perhaps we have to wait until Who was Who is available on the web. Does anyone have any black letter sources to hand that fill in the gaps?Cutler11:47, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]
