HERRING (Thomas), archbishop of Canterbury, was the son of the rev. Mr John Herring, rector of Walsoken in Norfolk, where he was born in 1693. He was educated at Jesus-college, Cambridge; was afterwards chosen fellow of Corpus Christi college, and continued a tutor there upwards of seven years. Having entered into priest's orders in 1719, he was successively minister of Great Shelford, Stow cum Qui, and Trinity, in Cambridge; chaplain to Dr Fleetwood, bishop of Ely; rector of Rettingdon in Essex, and of Barly in Hertfordshire; preacher to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, chaplain in ordinary to his late majesty, rector of Blechingly in Surrey, and dean of Rochester. In 1737 he was consecrated bishop of Bangor, and in 1743 translated to the archiepiscopal see of York. When the late rebellion broke out in Scotland, and the king's troops were defeated by the Highlanders at Prestonpans, he distinguished himself by removing the general panic, and awakening the nation from its lethargy. He convened the nobility, gentry, and clergy of his diocese; and addressed them in a noble speech, which had such an effect upon his auditory, that a subscription ensued, to the amount of forty thousand pounds; and the example was followed by the nation in general. On the death of Dr Potter in 1747, he was translated to the see of Canterbury; but in 1753, was seized with a violent fever, which brought him to the brink of the grave; and after languishing about four years, he died on the 13th of March 1757. He expended upwards of six thousand pounds in repairing and adorning the palaces of Croydon and Lambeth. This worthy prelate, in a most eminent degree, possessed the virtues of public life; his mind was filled with unaffected piety and benevolence, he was an excellent preacher, and a true friend to religious and civil liberty. After his death was published a volume of his sermons on public occasions.