George Lavington (1684–1762) was an English churchman who served as the Bishop of Exeter from 1746 until his death. Born in Wiltshire to a reverend, Lavington was educated at New College, Oxford, where he became a fellow in 1708. He climbed the ecclesiastical ranks, serving as Chaplain to King George I and holding prebendary positions at Worcester Cathedral and St Paul's Cathedral in London before his consecration as Bishop of Exeter.
Lavington's literary and public career was defined by his ardent opposition to the rise of Methodism. Upon taking his bishopric, which encompassed Cornwall, he immediately banned Methodist preachers from local pulpits. He authored a prolific stream of letters and pamphlets targeting the movement and its leaders, most notably John Wesley and George Whitefield. His polemical writings often relied on unverified rumors, including a controversial pamphlet that accused Wesley of improper conduct, which Wesley later investigated and disproved.
Despite his fierce written campaigns, Lavington's relations with George Whitefield were somewhat more amicable, and he even attended one of Whitefield's sermons. Shortly before his death in September 1762, Lavington reconciled with John Wesley, sharing dinner with him after taking the Sacrament together at Exeter Cathedral. Lavington's legacy as a defender of the established Church of England is commemorated by an epitaph in Exeter Cathedral.
