Robert Gray (1762–1834) was an English bishop of Bristol.
Contents |
Born 11 March 1762, he was the son of Robert Gray, a London silversmith. Having entered St. Mary Hall, Oxford, he graduated B.A. 1784, M. A, 1787, B.D. 1799, and D.D. 1802. Soon after 1790 he was presented to the vicarage of Faringdon, Berkshire.
In 1796 he was appointed Bampton lecturer, and his discourses were published the same year, under the title of 'Sermons on the Principles upon which the Reformation of the Church of England was established.' Through the favour of Shute Barrington, bishop of Durham, he was promoted, in 1800, to the rectory of Crayke, Yorkshire, and resigned Faringdon; in 1804 he was collated by Barrington to the seventh stall in Durham Cathedral, and again, in 1805, to the rectory of Bishopswearmouth, and resigned Crayke. He held this living, in which he had succeeded William Paley, until his elevation, in 1827, to the bishopric of Bristol.
During the Bristol riots of 1831, when one of the minor canons suggested a postponement of divine service, since the rioters were masters of the city, Gray replied that it was his duty to be at his post.
The service was held as usual, and he was himself the preacher. Before the close of the evening his palace was burned to the ground, and the loss which he sustained was estimated at £10,000. He died at Rodney House, Clifton, 28 Sept. 1834, and was buried in the graveyard attached to Bristol Cathedral. A marble monument by Edward H. Bayly was erected in the cathedral.
His first literary undertaking was his 'Key to the Old testament and Apocrypha; or, an Account of their several Books, their Contents and Authors, and of the Times in which they were respectively written;' a work compiled on the plan of Thomas Percy's 'Key to the New Testament,' first published in 1790, and repeatedly reprinted. In 1793 he published 'Discourses on various subjects, illustrative of the Evidence, Influence, and Doctrines of Christianity;' and in 1794, 'Letters during the course of a Tour through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, in 1791 and 1792.'
Gray also published sermons, and the following:
His wife was Elizabeth, sister of Alderman Camplin of Bristol, by whom he had a numerous family. One son, Robert, became bishop of Cape Town and metropolitan of Africa.