John Overall (bishop) - King James I of England

King James I of England

In 1603 Overall received the rectory of Clothall, Hertfordshire (which he held till 1615), and in 1604 the rectory of Therfield, Hertfordshire (which he held till 1614); both were served by curates. At the Hampton Court Conference he spoke (16 January 1604) on the controversy concerning predestination, referring to the disputes in which he had been engaged at Cambridge, and won the approval of King James.

Soul hunting, Overall, as Dean of St. Paul's, was present on 3 May 1606 in St Paul's Churchyard in London, for the hanging of Father Henry Garnet, Provincial of the Jesuits, from whom he tried unsuccessfully to extract a gallows recantation of Roman Catholicism. Garnet was charged with having a hand in the Gunpowder Plot. During the Convocation of 1610, John Overall's famous Convocation Book was sanctioned, although it was not published until much later. This treatise was “on the subject of Government, the divine institution of which was very positively asserted.” In addition, the nature of the sacraments was described by Overall. The composition of the latter part of the Catechism, containing an explanation of the Sacraments, is generally attributed to John Overall. It was added in 1604 by royal authority, “by way of explanation,” in compliance with a wish which the Puritans had expressed at the Conference at Hampton Court.