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Alfred Rawlinson (bishop)

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Alfred Rawlinson
Bishop of Derby
ChurchAnglican
DioceseDiocese of Derby
In office1936–1959
PredecessorEdmund Pearce
SuccessorGeoffrey Allen
Other post(s)Archdeacon of Auckland, Canon of Durham, & bishop's examining chaplain (1929–1936)
Orders
Ordination1909 (deacon); 1910 (priest)
Consecration1936
by Cosmo Gordon Lang
Personal details
Born(1884-07-17)17 July 1884
Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, United Kingdom
Died17 July 1960(1960-07-17) (aged 76)
London, England
Buried17 September 1960, Derby Cathedral (ashes interred)
DenominationAnglican
ResidenceGolders Green, London (in retirement)
Spouse
Mildred née Ellis
​
(m. 1919)​
Children1
ProfessionDivinity scholar
Alma materCorpus Christi College, Oxford

Alfred Edward John Rawlinson (called Jack;[1] 17 July 1884 – 17 July 1960)[2] was an eminent British scholar of divinity[3] and an Anglican bishop. He was the second Bishop of Derby[4] (a diocesan bishop in the Church of England) from 1936[5] until his retirement in 1959.[6]

Biography

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Born at Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire and educated at Dulwich College[7] and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he was ordained a deacon in 1909 and a priest in 1910.[8] He married Mildred, oldest daughter of P. A. Ellis (sometime Vicar of St Mary-the-Virgin, Tothill Fields), and they had one son.[7]

His academic career began as a tutor at Keble College, Oxford (1909–1913). Further academic posts at Christ Church, Oxford and Corpus followed: he was a Student (the Christ Church equivalent of a Fellow at other colleges) and Tutor at Christ Church from 1914 to 1929, and assistant chaplain and college lecturer in divinity at Corpus Christi from 1920 to 1929. He was also a university lecturer in divinity studies from 1927 to 1929.[7]

Meanwhile, his priestly ministry included examining chaplain to John Kempthorne, Bishop of Lichfield (1913–1929) and a brief spell as priest-in-charge of St John the Evangelist, Wilton Road (Victoria, London; 1917–1918). He was a Temporary Chaplain to the Forces 1915-17, and was posted to King George Hospital for soldiers in London.[9] He would later write of his experiences in ‘Religious Reality’. Its introduction, by the Bishop of Lichfield, noted that Rawlinson was ‘The sort of man with whom men are not afraid to talk’, referring to his work in preparing officers and men in military hospitals for Confirmation.[10]

He was appointed a Chaplain to the King (George V; 1930–1936) and departed Oxford to become Archdeacon of Auckland, a Canon Residentiary of Durham Cathedral,[11] and examining chaplain to Hensley Henson, Bishop of Durham (all 1929–1936), before his election to the See of Derby. He was consecrated a bishop by Cosmo Gordon Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, on St Matthias' day (24 February) 1936 at St Paul's Cathedral.[12] As an outstandingly biblical scholar, Rawlinson’s name appeared for several more senior bishoprics and, although he had the support of successive archbishops, his name was not forwarded to the Crown with the Prime Minister’s recommendation for appointment. The Prime Minister was the key figure in such appointments and Rawlinson was considered for vacancies at London in 1939,[13] Bath and Wells in 1945 and Lincoln and Salisbury in 1946. [14] The problem was that although Rawlinson’s academic prowess was greatly admired, his personal relationships, especially with his clergy, caused considerable concern. In 1945, for example, in recommending Rawlinson for Bath and Wells, Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher justified the translation because of Rawlinson’s reputation in Derby. ‘He dislikes his own Diocese and I don’t think they like him’. [15] Successive Prime Ministers refused to risk making an unpopular appointment. He retired to Golders Green in 1959 and died at a London hospital.[16] His ashes were interred in Derby Cathedral at a memorial service on 17 September 1960.[17]

Works

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Monographs

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  • Dogma, Fact, and Experience (1915)
  • Religious Reality: A Book for Men London: Longmans, Green & Co (1918)
  • Catholicism with freedom : an appeal for a new policy / being a paper read at the Anglo-Catholic congress at Birmingham on 22 June 1922; and now addressed as an open letter to all members of the Church of England ... London: Longmans (1922)
  • Adventures in the Near East, 1918–1922 London: Melrose. Attr. King's College London (1924)
  • Authority and freedom: Bishop Paddock Lectures. 1923 London, Longmans, Green (1924)
  • St Mark (Westminster commentaries series) London: Methuen (1925)
  • The New Testament Doctrine of the Christ Bampton Lectures London; New York: Longmans, Green (1926)
  • Christ in the Gospels Oxford: Oxford University Press (1944)
  • The Anglican Communion in Christendom London: SPCK (1960).

Contributor to

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  • Foundations: A Statement of Christian Belief in Terms of Modern Thought: By Seven Oxford Men. London: Macmillan (1912)
  • Essays Catholic and Critical edited by E G Selwyn London: SPCK (1926)
  • Essays on the Trinity and the Incarnation London: Longmans (1928)
  • God and the World through Christian Eyes London: Student Christian Movement Press (1933)
  • The Christian Faith: Essays in explanation and defence London: Eyre & Spottiswoode (1944).

References

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  1. ^ "The congress personalities". Church Times. No. Supp. 4 October 1935. p. v. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 5 January 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
  2. ^ Rt. Rev. A. E. J. Rawlinson Scholarly Bishop The Times Monday, 18 July 1960; pg. 12; Issue 54826; col D
  3. ^ Amongst others he wrote "Dogma, Fact, and Experience", 1915; "Religious Reality", 1918; "Studies in Historical Christianity", 1922; "The Church of England and the Church of Christ", 1930; "Christ in the Gospels", 1944; "Problems of Reunion", 1950;and "Current Problems of the Church", 1956: British Library Web Site accessed 15 February 2009 08;26 GMT
  4. ^ Diocesan details Archived 20 November 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ New Bishop Of Derby Archdeacon Rawlinson Appointed The Times Saturday, 21 December 1935; pg. 10; Issue 47253; col E
  6. ^ The Times, Saturday, 18 April 1959; pg. 6; Issue 54438; col E Bishop Of Derby
  7. ^ a b c "Rawlinson, Alfred Edward John". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Vol. 1920–2016 (April 2014 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 5 January 2017. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  8. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory 1940–1941 (Oxford: OUP, 1941)
  9. ^ TNA WO339/105421 Service Record
  10. ^ 'Religious Reality'A Book For Men' by AEJ Rawlinson,Longman's,1918,Preface
  11. ^ "Bygone Derbyshire". Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  12. ^ "Consecration of three bishops at St. Paul's". Church Times. No. 3814. 28 February 1936. p. 246. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 5 January 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
  13. ^ Lambeth Palace Library,Lang 1938
  14. ^ There are accounts of the appointment processes in PREM5,folders 257,388 and 346 at TNA
  15. ^ TNA PREM5/257
  16. ^ "in memoriam: Bishop Rawlinson". Church Times. No. 5084. 22 July 1960. p. 8. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 5 January 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
  17. ^ "Church to Commemorate Dr. Rawlinson?". Church Times. No. 503. 23 September 1960. p. 15. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 5 January 2017 – via UK Press Online archives.
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Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Derby
1936–1959 		Succeeded by
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