Sir William Cockburn, 11th Baronet
He was Dean of York (1823–1858) and was famously defended on a charge of simony by his nephew Sir Alexander Cockburn, 12th Baronet in 1841.[8] Cockburn was educated at Charterhouse School and St John's College, Cambridge, graduating as twelfth wrangler in 1795 and receiving his MA in 1798 and DD in 1823.Eventually, litigation involving the Archbishop of York led to a judgment deposing Cockburn from the Deanery.However, the whole city of York was pleased that Cockburn was still dean and tried to raise money to give him a token of their respect.[13] Historian Gillespie describes even "reasonably respectable" Cockburn's views as clerical "fulminations against science in general and all its works",[10] and listed his works[15] as among "clerical attacks on geology and uninformed attempts to frame theoretical systems reconciling the geological and scriptural records.