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 New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, he was the first bishop to be known specifically as Bishop of Auckland. His wife

Eliza Jane Cowie Eliza Jane Cowie (6 October 1835–18 August 1902; née Webber) was a New Zealand church and community worker. Eliza Jane Webber was born in London, England on 6 October 1835, the daughter of William Webber, a surgeon of Moulton, Suffolk, by ...

(1835-1902) was a distinguished religious worker in her own right, and Bishop Cowie's journals refer frequently to her work with him.

Early life and career

Cowie was born in

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, to Alexander Cowie and his wife Elizabeth Garden, daughter of Alexander Garden. His father was from Auchterless, Aberdeenshire, in which county he grew up. Educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and Trinity Hall,

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, where he received his BA in 1855 and MA in 1865. He was admitted

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in 1854 by the Bishop of Ely, and licensed to the

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 ...

of St Clement's,

. Ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

in 1855, also by the Bishop of Ely, he accepted the curacy of Moulton, Suffolk. Two years later, in 1857, he was appointed chaplain to the Forces in India, and served with Sir Colin Campbell's army at the capture of Lucknow in 1858, for which he received the Indian Mutiny Medal and clasp. In the following years, he was present at the battles of Allygunge, Rooyah, and Bareilly, and served in the Afghan campaign of 1863. Later that year he was chaplain to the camp of the

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and in 1864 served as resident and examining chaplain to Bishop

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. After a spell as chaplain at Kashmir in 1865, he returned home to an appointment as

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of Stafford in 1867.

Bishop of Auckland

Cowie was nominated Bishop of Auckland in 1869, and took up the position the following year, serving as such for more than 30 years. 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, and was also closely involved with the ordination of indigenous Melanesian clergy. Cowie attended the

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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, but he died before stepping down the following week, on 21 June 1902 in Parnell, Auckland, and was buried at St Stephen's Cemetery. He was a visitor and governor of St John's College, Auckland, and was appointed a

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of the

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in 1880. During his visit to the United Kingdom in 1897, he received the degree Doctor of Divinity '' honoris causa'' from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Cowie was the author of two articles: *''Notes on Some of the Temples of Kashmir'', in Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Volum XXXV, Issue II, 1867 *''Notes - a visit to Norfolk Island'' (1872)

Family

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

Notes

References

* *

External links

Documents by Cowie
from Project Canterbury {{DEFAULTSORT:Cowie, William Garden 1831 births 1902 deaths People educated at Eton College Anglican bishops of Auckland 19th-century Anglican bishops in New Zealand English emigrants to New Zealand Burials at St Stephen's Cemetery, Parnell