Ken, Thomas, 1637–1711, English prelate and hymn writer, prominent among the nonjuring bishops. He became chaplain to Charles II in 1680 and was nominated by that monarch to the bishopric of Bath and Wells in 1684. Under James II, Ken refused to publish the Declaration of Indulgence in accordance with the king's order; for this he was sent to the Tower with six other bishops in 1688. On the accession of William of Orange (William III) Bishop Ken would not take the oath of allegiance to him after having given it to the Stuarts, and in 1691 his see was taken from him as a nonjuror. Most noted of his hymns is the doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.”
See biographies by E. H. Plumptre (1888), F. A. Clarke (1896), and H. A. L. Rice (1958).
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