Sherard Falkner Allison (19 January 1907 – 31 May 1993) was a British Anglican bishop and successively the Bishop of Chelmsford and the

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

Early life, family and education

Allison was born in Stafford on 19 January 1907 while his father, William Sherard Allison, was Vicar of St Thomas' Church, Stafford. He was born into a clergy family – besides his father, his mother Emily Beatrice's father (James Wheeler) and brother (Harold Wheeler) were already vicars – and Falkner's three brothers also became priests – Oliver Allison became Bishop in the Sudan while Roger and Gordon remained vicars. Falkner (who was always known by his second forename) was educated at Dean Close School,

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

as a child before studying as a Scholar at Jesus College, Cambridge and training for the ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

Priestly career

Having been made deacon on Trinity Sunday 1931 (31 May), by Linton Smith, Bishop of Rochester, at Rochester Cathedral, Allison served his title post as curate of St James's Church, Tunbridge Wells until 1934, being ordained priest on Trinity Sunday (22 May) 1932, by Smith at Rochester Cathedral. He then became Chaplain of Ridley Hall, Cambridge and examining chaplain to the Bishop of Bradford, Alfred Blunt until 1936, when he became Vicar of Rodbourne Cheney. In 1940, Allison became Vicar of Erith until he was appointed Principal of Ridley Hall in 1945, where he served until his election as Bishop of Chelmsford. During his time at Ridley, he was also examining chaplain to the bishop of Rochester (until 1947) and to the bishop of Ely (from 1947).

Episcopal career

Allison was consecrated a bishop by Geoffrey Fisher,

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, on 2 February 1951 at Westminster Abbey, having presumably been elected and confirmed as Bishop of Chelmsford shortly before. He served as the diocesan bishop for

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and East London for ten years before he was made

in 1961 – his election to that see was confirmed in late December 1961. He remained in Winchester until his retirement in 1974,E. B. Fryde, D. E. Greenway, S. Porter, I. Roy, ''Handbook of British Chronology'' (1996), p. 237 and p. 278. during which time he was ''ex officio'' a Lord Spiritual and Prelate of the Order of the Garter. Having retired to Aldeburgh, Allison died on 31 May 1993, aged 86.

Styles and titles

*1931–1951: ''

The Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

'' Falkner Allison *1951–1993: ''The Right Reverend'' Falkner Allison

Works

*''The Christian Life'' (1938) with Douglas Ernest William Harrison

References

Sources

*
The Independent – Obituary: Falkner Allison
(Accessed 1 February 2014) {{DEFAULTSORT:Allison, Falkner 1907 births 1993 deaths Bishops of Chelmsford Bishops of Winchester 20th-century Church of England bishops Staff of Ridley Hall, Cambridge People from Stafford 20th-century Anglican theologians