Edward Willes
Edward Willes (born March 6, 1694 in Bishop's Itchington, Stratford-on-Avon (District) , Warwickshire , † November 24, 1773 in London ) was Bishop of Bath and Wells and the leading English cryptologist of his time.
He owes his rise from a simple clergyman in Oxford to bishop almost exclusively to his deciphering work for the British government, which paid him well. After he was able to decipher the Swedish diplomatic mail in 1716, which proved involvement in a Jacobite conspiracy and led to the ambassador's arrest ( Gyllenborg affair 1717), he was appointed rector of Barton in Bedfordshire. When he succeeded in 1723 by deciphering the correspondence of the Jacobites to convict the Bishop of Rochester, about which he had to testify in the process before the House of Lords, which led to the removal of the bishop, he was canon in Westminster . In 1743 he finally became Bishop of St. Davids and in 1743 Bishop of Bath and Wells . His sons continued the cryptographic work. A plaque commemorates him in Westminster Abbey .
literature
- David Kahn The codebreakers , 1968
Individual evidence
- ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 280
- ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 207
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Nicholas Clagget |
Bishop of St. Davids 1743 |
Richard Trevor |
| John Wynne |
Bishop of Bath and Wells 1743–1773 |
Charles Moss |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Willes, Edward |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English cryptographer and bishop |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 6, 1694 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bishop's Itchington, Stratford-on-Avon (District) , Warwickshire , UK England |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 24, 1773 |
| Place of death | London , England , UK |