William Lort Mansel
William Lort Mansel was an English churchman and Cambridge fellow. He was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge from 1798 to his death in 1820, and also Bishop of Bristol from 1808 to 1820.
William Lort Mansel was born in Pembroke, the son of William Wogan Mansel and his wife Anne, sister of Michael Lort, Regius Professor of Greek at Cambridge.
He was educated at the school of Mr Sparks in Gloucester and at Trinity College, Cambridge.
Elected a fellow of Trinity in 1775, Mansel was ordained deacon in 1780 and priest in 1783. He became Vicar of Bottisham 1783–1790, Vicar of Chesterton in 1788 and Rector of Fowlmere in 1789.
Mansel was known as a wit, writer of epigrams, and satirist of academic rivalries. His popularity led to his election as Public Orator of Cambridge, 1788–1798. Appointed Master of Trinity in 1798, Mansel served as University Vice-Chancellor 1799–1800. Appointed Bishop of Bristol in 1808 on the recommendation of his former pupil Spencer Perceval, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, he combined the bishopric with his mastership until his death in 1820.
Mansel died in the Master's Lodge at Trinity College, Cambridge, and is interred in the College Chapel.
