William Shaw Kerr (1873 - 2 February 1960) was an Irish Anglican bishop, the first Bishop of Down and Dromore in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

. Kerr was born in 1873 and educated at Trinity College, Dublin and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

in 1897, 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 ...

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a population ...

. He was then

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Banbridge, Archdeacon of Dromore and finally (before his ordination 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 ...

)

Dean of Belfast The Dean of Belfast is the senior official of St Anne's Cathedral in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland and head of the Chapter, its governing body. List of deans of Belfast * 1894–1899: Henry Stewart O’Hara; first dean of Belfast ( ...

. He was elected Bishop of Down and Dromore on 9 December 1944 and consecrated on 25 January 1945. He resigned on 31 July 1955 and died on 2 February 1960.

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, Thursday, Feb 04, 1960; pg. 16; Issue 54686; col A ''Rt. Rev. W. S. Kerr First Bishop Of Down And Dromore''

Works

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerr, William Shaw 1873 births 1960 deaths 20th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Archdeacons of Dromore Bishops of Down and Dromore Deans of Belfast 20th-century Irish writers 20th-century male writers Irish religious writers