Dean of Westminster

The west façade of the Abbey

The Dean of Westminster is the head of the chapter at Westminster Abbey. Due to the Abbey's status as a Royal Peculiar, the dean answers directly to the Queen (not to the Bishop of London as ordinary, nor to the Archbishop of Canterbury as metropolitan). Initially, the office was a successor to that of abbot of Westminster, and was for the first 10 years cathedral dean for the Diocese of Westminster. The current dean is John Hall.

List of deans

Early modern

• 1540–1549 William Benson (last abbot)
• 1549–1553 Richard Cox
• 1553–1556 Hugh Weston
• 1556–1559 John Feckenham was abbot
• 1560–1561 William Bill
• 1561–1601 Gabriel Goodman
• 1601–1605 Lancelot Andrewes
• 1605–1610 Richard Neile
• 1610–1617 George Montaigne
• 1617–1620 Robert Tounson
• 1620–1644 John Williams
• 1644–1651 Richard Steward (not installed – Commonwealth)
• 1660–1662 John Earle
• 1662–1683 John Dolben
• 1683–1713 Thomas Sprat
• 1713–1723 Francis Atterbury
• 1723–1731 Samuel Bradford
• 1731–1756 Joseph Wilcocks
• 1756–1768 Zachary Pearce
• 1768–1793 John Thomas
• 1793–1802 Samuel Horsley

Late modern

• 1802–1815 William Vincent
• 1816–1842 John Ireland
• 1842–1845 Thomas Turton
• 1845 Samuel Wilberforce
• 1845–1856 William Buckland
• 1856–1864 Richard Chenevix Trench
• 1864–1881 Arthur Stanley
• 1881–1902 George Bradley
• 1902–1911 Armitage Robinson
• 1911–1925 Herbert Ryle
• 1925–1937 William Foxley Norris
• 1938–1946 Paul de Labilliere
• 1946–1959 Alan Don
• 1959–1974 Eric Abbott
• 1974–1985 Edward Carpenter
• 1986–1996 Michael Mayne
• 1997–2006 Wesley Carr
• 2006–present John Hall

The Deanery at Westminster Abbey

Sources

• Abbots and Deans of Westminster (Westminster Abbey)