Men of Kent and Kentishmen/White Kennet
BISHOP,
Was the son of the Rev. Basil Kennet, who held the living of Postling, near Hythe; he was born at Dover in 1660. He was named White from his mother's father, a master shipwright and magistrate there. He was educated at Westminster School and at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, at which University he continued to reside as a tutor and lecturer for many years after taking his degrees. In 1693 he was appointed to the Rectory of Shotesbrooke in Berkshire, and in 1700 to the living of St. Botolph in London. In 1707 he obtained the Deanery of Peterborough, together with the living of St. Mary Aldermanbury from the Queen. His last promotion was in 1718 to the bishopric of Peterborough, which dignity he held till his death in 1728. Bishop Kennet was indefatigable in the duties of his sacred function; but his chief title to fame rests upon his writings. He commenced authorship in his student days, as a political writer, and he took an active part in all the controversies, religious and political, of the day. His most interesting and valuable treatises however are of an antiquarian and historical nature, and the works for which he is best known are his "Compleat History of England, compiled from various authors," and his "Parochial Antiquities of Oxford and Bucks." His life has been written by the Rev. William Newton. 1730. (q. v.)
[See also "Athenæ Oxon." by Bliss, "Gentleman's Magazine," 1803, and passim, and "Biographia Britannica."]