William Cowie

William Cowie
Bishop Cowie (seated) flanked by Leonard Williams (left) and Samuel Williams
Born	(1831-01-08)8 January 1831 London
Died	26 June 1902(1902-06-26) (aged 71) Wellington, New Zealand
Nationality	New Zealand
Alma mater	Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Occupation	bishop

William Garden Cowie (8 January 1831 – 26 June 1902) was bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, New Zealand, from 1870 to 1902. Although he succeeded George Selwyn in having jurisdiction in this portion of New Zealand, he was the first bishop to be known specifically as Bishop of Auckland. His wife Eliza Jane Cowie (1835-1902) was a distinguished religious worker in her own right, and Bishop Cowie's journals refer frequently to her work with him.

Life

Bishop Cowie was born in London, educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and received his BA in 1855, MA in 1865, DD honoris causa from Oxford in 1897.^[1]

He was ordained to the diaconate in 1854 by the Bishop of Ely, and to the priesthood in 1855, also by the Bishop of Ely. He was an important influence on the expansion and development of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia during the long period of his episcopate. He was also closely involved with the ordination of indigenous Melanesian clergy. Cowie attended the Lambeth Conference in 1888 and 1897. He was elected Primate of the Anglican Church of New Zealand in 1895. In June 1902 it was announced that he would resign as bishop and primate, due to ill-health,^[2] but he died before stepping down the following week, on 21 June 1902 in Parnell, Auckland,^[3] and was buried at St Stephen's Cemetery.^{[4] [5]}

Family

In 1869, he married Eliza Jane, daughter of William Webber of Moulton, Suffolk, and granddaughter of Sir Thomas Preston, Bart., of Beeston Hill, Norfolk. She died on 18 August 1902.^[5]

Notes

References

•  Buckland, Augustus Robert (1912). "Cowie, William Garden". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement​. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 
• Mennell, Philip (1892). " Cowie, Right Rev. William Garden". The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co. Wikisource 

External links

• Documents by Cowie from Project Canterbury