John Cosin (1660-1671), Canon of Durham, was the first bishop after the Restoration. He was a most munificent prelate, leaving many charitable bequests. He spent large sums in the restoration of the cathedral and castle and the palace at Bishop Auckland. He built a hospital for eight poor people, and erected a library on the palace green.
Nathaniel Crewe (1642-1722), translated from Oxford. He was a strong supporter of King James II., but afterwards took the oath of allegiance to William and Mary. He was noted for his charity and munificence, and left large sums to the poor, and in scholarships tenable by natives of Durham.
William Talbot (1722-1730), translated from Salisbury.
Edward Chandler (1730-1750), Bishop of Lichfield, was next elected. He gave £2000 to be laid out for the benefit of the widows of clergymen of his diocese.
Joseph Butler (1750-1752) was translated from Bristol. He is best known as the author of "The Analogy of Religion, Natural and Revealed."
Richard Trevor (1752-1771), Bishop of S. David's, a learned, pious, and unostentatious man. He left £200 in his will to the poor of Durham and Auckland.
John Egerton (1771-1787), Bishop of Lichfield, was next elected. He married the daughter of Henry, Duke of Kent, and his eldest son afterwards became Earl of Bridgewater.
Thomas Thurlow (1787-1791) was translated to Durham from Lincoln. He was brother of the Lord Chancellor.
Shute Barrington (1791-1826) was the next bishop, having previously held the sees of Llandaff and Salisbury. A most beneficent prelate; his charities, especially those for the founding of schools and augmentation of poor livings, were magnificent. During his episcopacy, external repairs to the cathedral having become absolutely necessary, James Wyatt, who had already done such mischief at Salisbury, was given charge of the work. Then it was that the paring process, spoken of previously, was completed, the chapter-house destroyed, and the Galilee Chapel only saved from destruction by the intervention of Dean Cornwallis. Wyatt's other wild schemes, to extend the choir eastwards, to the utter ruin of the Nine Altar Chapel, to remove the beautiful Neville screen, and surmount the central tower of the church by a spire, were happily checked in time, or there is no saying to what extent the building would have been mutilated. Bishop Barrington died in London, in his ninety-third year.
William Van Mildert (1826-1836), Bishop of Llandaff, succeeded to the see. During his episcopate, many important changes were made. The Ecclesiastical Commission, appointed in 1833, to consider in what manner the funds of the Church might be made more available for the purposes for which they were intended, decided to give future bishops a fixed yearly payment, and to reduce the number of canons from twelve to six. On the appointment of a new bishop, the Palatinate was to be annexed by the State. Thus Van Mildert was the last Count Palatine. Before these changes came into force, however, the bishop and the dean and chapter founded and endowed the university out of the revenues of the see, for the use of which the bishop gave up the castle. Bishop Van Mildert was a man of great charity, and though his income was immense, he died comparatively poor. He died in February 1836, and was interred in the chapel of the Nine Altars.