He determined in his new role to continue his suppression of Catholic recusancy but was unsuccessful in persuading his superiors – such as James I – to grant the diocesan commission that he envisaged to be his instrument in achieving this end.
He failed in his attempt to move to the vacant bishopric at Worcester in 1610 and subsequently used his position to promote evangelical work and to improve the education of clergymen,[3] notably through the Leintwardin lecture.
[a] He had designed his own white alabaster effigy, which still exists in Hereford cathedral, where he was buried close to where his wife sat.
His heir was a nephew, also called Robert Bennet,[3] and his successor at Hereford was Francis Godwin, the author of numerous books including the remarkable piece of science fiction titled The Man in the Moone.
[8] He left money to the cathedral, Trinity College in Cambridge, Oxford University and the poor of various places, including that of his birth, Baldock,[7]