Editing Gilbert Sheldon (section)

==Early life==
Sheldon was born in [[Stanton, Staffordshire]] in the parish of [[Ellastone]], on 19 June 1598,<ref>According to a handwritten entry in the Sheldon family Bible, now in the [[Bodleian Library]], Oxford, which reads: "Gilb. Sheldon, borne 19 June 1598."</ref> the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for [[Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury]]. He was educated at [[Trinity College, Oxford]]; he matriculated at Oxford on 1 July 1614, graduated [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] from Trinity College on 27 November 1617, and [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA(Oxon)]] on 28 June 1620. In 1619, he was incorporated at Cambridge.<ref>{{acad|id=SHLN619G|name=Sheldon, Gilbert}}</ref> In 1622 he was elected fellow of [[All Souls' College]], where he took the degrees of [[Bachelor of Divinity|BD]] on 11 November 1628 and [[Doctor of Divinity|DD]] on 25 June 1634. In 1622, he was ordained, and shortly afterwards he became domestic chaplain to [[Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry]].<ref name="DNB">{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Sheldon, Gilbert|last=Hutton|first=William Holden|author-link=William Holden Hutton|volume=52}}</ref>

In March 1636 he was elected warden of All Souls' on the death of Richard Astley.<ref>'Astley, Richard', in J. Foster (ed.), ''Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714'' (Oxford, 1891), [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/alumni-oxon/1500-1714/pp29-50 pp. 29–50] (British History Online, accessed 22 November 2018). 'Sheldon, Gilbert' in J. Venn, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' Part I vol. 4 (Cambridge University Press 1927), [https://archive.org/details/p1alumnicantabri04univuoft/page/56 p. 57] (Internet Archive).</ref> He had already made the acquaintance of [[William Laud]], and corresponded with him on college business, university politics, and on the conversion of [[William Chillingworth]] from Roman Catholicism. Sheldon was not initially a Laudian, and he resisted (unsuccessfully) Laud's appointment of [[Jeremy Taylor]] to a fellowship at All Souls'. In 1634 and 1640 he was pro-vice-chancellor. In 1638 he was on the commission of visitation for Merton College; the visit produced a report requiring reforms.<ref name="DNB" />

During the years 1632–1639 he received the livings of [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]] (1633); [[Oddington, Oxfordshire]]; [[Ickford]], Buckinghamshire (1636); and [[Newington, Oxfordshire]]; besides being a [[prebendary]] of [[Gloucester Cathedral|Gloucester]] from 1632.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Sheldon gravitated towards the [[Great Tew circle]] of [[Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland|Lucius Cary]] (Falkland), and was on friendly terms with [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Edward Hyde]]; he had no [[Puritan]] sympathies. He became a royal chaplain through Coventry, and the king intended preferment for him, plans interrupted by the political crises.<ref name="DNB" />