Born in Northampton, he went to Magdalen Hall, Oxford, where he was under puritan control. He gained an MA in 1655, was Prebendary of St Paul's in 1665 and Dean of Ripon in 1675. Appointed Bishop of Chester in 1686, he established close connections with the Roman Catholics and supported King James II. He followed James into exile in France, then to Ireland, where he died, sturdily resisting all attempts to convert him to the Catholic faith. This work is similar to a painting in the National Portrait Gallery, but neither is convincing as an original. It is possible that they are copies from a lost Kneller to whom Cartwright sat in June–July 1687.