Bishop of Wakefield

The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is now an area bishop who has oversight of an episcopal area in the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales (officially the Diocese of Leeds).

Diocesan Bishop of Wakefield

The diocesan Bishop of Wakefield was the ordinary of the now-defunct Church of England Diocese of Wakefield in the Province of York.[1] The diocese was based in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, covering the City of Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale. The see was centred in the City of Wakefield where the bishop's seat (cathedra) was located in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, a parish church elevated to cathedral status in 1888.

The diocesan bishop's residence was Bishop's Lodge, Wakefield. The office existed from the founding of the diocese in 1888 under Queen Victoria until its dissolution on 20 April 2014. The cathedral contains a memorial to Walsham How, first Bishop of Wakefield. The last diocesan Bishop of Wakefield was Stephen Platten, the 12th Bishop of Wakefield, who signed +Stephen Wakefield and was in post when his diocese was dissolved.

Upon the creation of the Diocese of Leeds[2] on 20 April 2014, the see was dissolved and its territory added to the new diocese, within which the suffragan see of Pontefract has since been renamed for the area Bishop of Wakefield.[3]

diocesan Bishops of Wakefield
From Until Incumbent Notes
1889 1897 Walsham How Translated from Bedford. Nominated on 26 May 1888. Died in office on 10 August 1897.
1897 1928 George Eden Translated from Dover. Nominated on 29 October 1897. Retired in 1928 and died on 7 January 1940.
1928 1938 James Seaton Nominated on 15 October 1928 and consecrated on 1 November 1928. Died in office on 26 May 1938.
1938 1945 Campbell Hone Translated from Pontefract. Nominated on 19 August 1938. Retired on 15 September 1945 and died on 16 May 1967.
1946 1948 Henry McGowan Previously Archdeacon of Aston. Nominated on 13 November 1945 and consecrated on 2 February 1946. Died on office on 8 September 1948
1949 1958 Roger Wilson Previously Archdeacon of Nottingham. Nominated on 8 March 1949 and consecrated on 25 April 1949. Translated to Chichester on 16 April 1958.
1958 1967 John Ramsbotham Translated from Jarrow. Nominated 22 April 1958. Retired on 30 November 1967 and died on 16 December 1989.
1968 1976 Eric Treacy Translated from Pontefract. Nominated on 30 January 1968 and confirmed on 8 March 1968. Retired on 30 September 1976 and died on 13 May 1978.
1977 1985 Colin James Translated from Basingstoke. Nominated on 30 November 1976 and confirmed on 7 January 1977. Translated to Winchester in 1985.
1985 1992 David Hope Translated to London. Afterwards translated to York.
1992 2002 Nigel McCulloch Translated from Taunton. Afterwards translated to Manchester.
2003 2014 Stephen Platten Previously Dean of Norwich. He was the last diocesan Bishop of Wakefield; his see was dissolved on 20 April 2014.[4][5]
Source(s):[6][7]

Area Bishop of Wakefield

The area Bishop of Wakefield is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales (officially the Diocese of Leeds) in the Province of York. The Bishop of Wakefield has oversight of the archdeaconry of Pontefract, which consists of the deaneries of Barnsley, Pontefract, and Wakefield.[8] As well as being the area bishop for the Wakefield Episcopal Area, Robinson also provides alternative episcopal oversight for the Diocese of Leeds as a whole, administering to those parishes in the diocese which reject the ministry of priests who are women.

The area bishop's residence is Pontefract House, Wakefield.[9] The current area Bishop of Wakefield is Tony Robinson, who has previously been the Bishop suffragan of Pontefract until that see was translated (renamed) to Wakefield in 2015.[10]

area Bishops of Wakefield
From Until Incumbent Notes
2015 present Tony Robinson Previously Bishop of Pontefract.[11] That see was translated (renamed) to Wakefield on 19 March 2015.
Source(s):[12]

References

  1. ↑ The Diocese of Wakefield. (Official website). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.
  2. ↑ The Church of England – Synod approves new Diocese of Leeds for West Yorkshire and The Dales
  3. ↑ Moving towards a new diocese for West Yorkshire and the Dales (Accessed 9 July 2013)
  4. ↑ Bradford Diocese – General Synod votes for new diocese (Accessed 9 July 2013)
  5. ↑ People. Bishop of Wakefield. (Official website). Retrieved on 18 November 2008.
  6. ↑ "Historical successions: Wakefield". Crockford's Clerical Directory. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Fryde et al. 1996, Handbook of British Chronology, pp. 275–276.
  8. ↑ Maps and information about deaneries and parishes. westyorkshiredales.anglican.org. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Tony Robinson. westyorkshiredales.anglican.org. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  10. ↑ Bishop Tony Robinson Biography. westyorkshiredales.anglican.org. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.
  11. ↑ The Transformation Programme – Archbishop appoints interim area bishops (Accessed 10 January 2014)
  12. ↑ Wakefield Area. westyorkshiredales.anglican.org. Retrieved on 27 March 2015.

Sources

External links