John Monier Bickersteth KCVO[1] (6 September 1921 – 29 January 2018) was an English Anglican clergyman who served as the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1975 to 1986, and Clerk of the Closet from 1979 to 1989.


John Bickersteth

Bishop of Bath and Wells
DioceseDiocese of Bath and Wells
In office1975–1986
PredecessorEdward Henderson
SuccessorGeorge Carey
Other post(s)Clerk of the Closet
1979–1989
Bishop of Warrington
1970–1975
Orders
Ordination1950 (deacon); 1951 (priest)
Consecration1970
Personal details
Born(1921-09-06)6 September 1921
Died29 January 2018(2018-01-29) (aged 96)
Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
DenominationAnglican
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford

Bickersteth descended from a clerical family over several generations; in total six family members have been Church of England Bishops.[2] His father was the Rev. Canon Edward Monier Bickersteth OBE, and his mother, Inez Katharine Jelf Bickersteth,[3] was a friend of the actress Sybil Thorndike.[2] His uncle was Julian Bickersteth and his great-great-grandfather was Charles James Blomfield.

Educated at Rugby School and Christ Church, Oxford, he trained for ordination at Wells Theological College and was ordained deacon in 1950 and priest in 1951.[4] He began his career with a curacy at St Matthew Moorfields Bristol (1950-54).[5] He was then Incumbent of St John the Evangelist, Hurst Green, Oxted (1954-62).[6] After a spell as Vicar of St Stephen's Church, Chatham he ascended to the Episcopate in 1970 as Suffragan Bishop of Warrington, and after five years was further promoted to Bath. From 1979 he was Clerk of the Closet for a decade.

Bickersteth died in January 2018 at the age of 96.[7]

Bibliography

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  • —; Dunning, Robert W. (1991). Clerks of the Closet in the Royal Household: Five Hundred Years of Service to the Crown. Stroud, Gloucestershire Wolfeboro Falls, NH: Alan Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0-86299-873-8. OCLC 28115550. Retrieved 30 April 2019.

References

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  1. ^ Debrett's People of Today: Ed Ellis,P (1992, London, Debtrett's) p 1621 ISBN 1-870520-09-2
  2. ^ a b Run O' The Mill Bishop by John Bickersteth (Capella Archive) Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine Biografische Angaben (Tablet Archive vom 17. September 2005)
  3. ^ "Collection: Archive of the Bickersteth family | Bodleian Archives & Manuscripts".
  4. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973-74, 85th Edition, p 80.
  5. ^ Who's Who 1992 London, A & C Black, 1991 ISBN 0-7136-3514-2
  6. ^ Crockford's Clerical Directory, 1973-74, 85th Edition, p 80.
  7. ^ "Church Times: "The Rt Revd John Bickersteth", 16 March 2018". Retrieved 12 September 2021.
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