Frederic Hicks Beaven (11 April 1855 – 22 January 1941) was

bishop of Mashonaland The Anglican Diocese of Harare is a diocese of the Church of the Province of Central Africa. The Anglican Diocese of Mashonaland was formed in 1891 and its first bishop was George Knight-Bruce. He was succeeded by William Gaul (1895–1907), form ...

from 1911, through 1915 when his title was changed to bishop of Southern Rhodesia, until his retirement in 1925.

History

Born in Rodwell, Wiltshire, he was the eldest son of Christopher, a farmer, and Edith ( Hicks) Beaven who lived at Broughton Gifford, Wiltshire. Frederic had three brothers, all of whom emigrated to Australia, and two sisters. He married Georgina Braithwaite Dawes in 1883 in Brighton; they did not have any children. He was educated at

Queen Elizabeth's School, Wimborne Minster Queen Elizabeth's School (also known as QE) is a co-educational secondary school in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England. Introduction QE is an upper school, taking students between the ages of 13 and 18. In November 2014 there were 1,482 pupils, ...

and

University College, Durham , motto_English = Not for ourselves alone , scarf = , established = , principal = Wendy Powers , vice_principal = Ellen Crabtree , undergraduates = 698 , postgraduates = 153 , coordinates = , location_map = Durham , map_size ...

. He was ordained in 1879 after studying at

St Bees Theological College St Bees Theological College, close to the coast of Cumberland, was the first independent theological college to be established for the training of Church of England ordinands. It was founded in 1816 by George Henry Law, Bishop of Chester, in wh ...

. His first post was a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

St Martin's Church, Brighton St Martin's Church (in full, St Martin with St Wilfrid, St Alban and St Richard Hollingdean) is an Anglican church in Brighton, England, dating from the mid-Victorian era. It is located on Lewes Road in the Round Hill area of the city, northe ...

. He then held incumbencies at All Saints',

Newborough, Staffordshire Newborough is a village and civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located south west of Hanbury and west of Burton-upon-Trent. Newborough has a pub, a school and a church. At the 2011 UK census, the population stood at ...

(1881–85),

St Chad's Church, Stafford St Chad's Church, on Greengate Street in the centre of Stafford, is a Grade II* listed Anglican church. Saint Chad, who died in 672, was the first Bishop of Lichfield. The church was built in the 12th century, and is the oldest building in Staff ...

(1885–87) and

St Paul's, Burton upon Trent St Paul's Church is a Church of England parish church in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire England. The church, on St Paul's Square and near the Town Hall, opened in 1874 and was designed by the architects James M. Teale and Edmund Beckett Den ...

(1887–1901). In the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the So ...

, he was an acting chaplain to the 2nd Battalion, the

North Staffordshire Regiment The North Staffordshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, which was in existence between 1881 and 1959. The 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment of Foot was created on 21 April 1758 from the 2nd Battalio ...

, and from 1903 he was

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that of mo ...

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambe ...

. In 1908 he became the dean of Salisbury (now Harare), his last appointment before elevation to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in 1911.“Church and Settler in Colonial Zimbabwe: A Study in the History of the Anglican Diocese of Mashonaland/Southern Rhodesia, 1890–1925, Vol. 34” Welsh, P (Ed): Boston, Brill Academic Publishing, 2008 He was consecrated Bishop in Cape Town Cathedral on New Year's Day, 1911. He was responsible for the start of construction of the Cathedral of St Mary and All Saints in Salisbury and the choir and sanctuary were completed in 1914. In the First World War, he was chaplain general of the Rhodesian Forces. During his episcopate, in 1919, the first indigenous person in Zimbabwe, Samuel Mhlanga was ordained to the deaconate. Beaven became a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(DD). Retiring from his bishopric, he served as rector of Thelnetham, Suffolk, 1925-26. Subsequently he lived in Paignton, Worthing and Bognor Regis. The National Portrait Gallery has two portrait photographs of Beaven.

References

1855 births Military personnel from Wiltshire People from Calne Alumni of University College, Durham British Army personnel of the Second Boer War English Anglican missionaries 20th-century Anglican bishops in Africa Anglican bishops of Harare and Mashonaland 1941 deaths Archdeacons of Matabeleland Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Second Boer War chaplains People educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School, Wimborne Minster Anglican missionaries in Zimbabwe {{Africa-Anglican-bishop-stub