37. Thomas Ramryge (1492- ). No details of events during the rule of this Abbot exist, nor is the date of his death known.
38. Thomas Wolsey (1521-1529). This great cardinal was invested with the temporalities on December 7th, 1521, and held the Abbey "in commendam." There is no record of his ever having resided in the Abbey, but he probably put a stop to the printing which had been carried on in the Abbey from 1480 onwards. He also made a gift of plate to the Abbey. He held the office of Abbot until his disgrace in 1529.
39. Robert Catton (1530-1538). This Abbot was really appointed by Henry VIII., but was nominally elected by the chapter. He had been Prior of Norwich. The Abbey printing press was again in use in his time. He seems to have been deprived during his lifetime, for what reason we cannot say.
40. Robert Boreman of Stevenage (1538-1539). This Abbot was a nominee of the King, and was chosen by him because Henry knew that he would be willing to surrender the Abbey. This he did on December 5th, 1539. It was part of the policy of Henry VIII. to make it appear that the monasteries were voluntarily surrendered by the abbot and chapter, and it was generally made worth their while to do so by a liberal pension. In some cases the abbots refused, among them the last Abbot of Glastonbury, who paid dearly for his refusal, as he was hanged on a hill commanding a view of the possessions of the Abbey, which not being his to part with he had refused to surrender, though, of course, the nominal charge against him was not the real one. Abbot Boreman, however, made no objection, and received a yearly pension of £266 13s. 4d., so was a rich man for the rest of his days. Pensions of varying amounts were given to his monks. Boreman and twenty of the monks were in receipt of them when Mary came to the throne. Mary wished to revive the Abbey and put Boreman over it, but did not live to carry out her intended plan. The monastic buildings very rapidly disappeared; the church became parochial, and has been served by the following sixteen rectors:
| George Wetherhall, appointed | 1553. |
| Archdeacon William East. | |
| Archdeacon James Dugdale, | 1556. |
| Edward Edgeworth, | 1578. |
| Roger Williams, | 1582. |
| John Brown. | |
| Archdeacon Edward Carter, | 1662. |
| Archdeacon John Cole, | 1687. |
| Archdeacon John Cole (II), | 1713. |
| Benjamin Preedy, | 1754. |
| Joseph Spooner, | 1779. |
| John Payler Nicholson, | 1796. |
| Henry Small, | 1817. |
| Henry J.B. Nicholson, | 1835. |
| Sir John C. Hawkins, Bart., | 1866. |
| Archdeacon Walter John Lawrance,[12] | 1868. |
The Church of St. Albans was in the diocese of Lincoln until 1845, when it was handed over to Rochester. In 1877 Parliament passed a bill for the division of the populous diocese of Rochester into two parts; the northern to be called the see of St. Albans, the southern to retain the name of Rochester. The Right Rev. Dr. Claughton, then Bishop of Rochester, elected to take the northern division of his old diocese and became Bishop of St. Albans. He was succeeded in 1890 by John Wogan Festing, D.D., who died in 1903.
Both of these bishops are buried in the churchyard on the north side of the nave. On Dr. Festing's death the Right Rev. Edgar Jacob, D.D., was translated to St. Albans from the diocese of Newcastle, and was enthroned in May, 1903.
The Church of St. Albans, although legally a cathedral church, yet differs in certain particulars from most of the other churches of this rank in England. It is also used as a parish church, of which the Dean is rector. He has the same powers, responsibilities, and duties as the rector of any other parish. It is sometimes said that the nave is the parish, and the part eastward of the rood screen the cathedral church, but it is not so. The Dean as rector has power over the whole, and parishioners have right of access to every part of the building, just as in any other parish church; and the Dean as their rector can be called upon to baptize, marry, visit, and bury the people under his charge. Churchwardens are also appointed and have their statutory rights. There are some honorary canons, but as yet no "canons residentiary," nor are there "priests vicars" (or "minor canons"), lay vicars, or choristers on the foundation. The choir is a voluntary one, the clergy under the Dean are curates.
