Alan David Chesters

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 26 August 1937) was the

Bishop of Blackburn The Bishop of Blackburn is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Blackburn in the Province of York. The diocese covers much of the county of Lancashire and has its Episcopal see, see in the Blackburn, town of Black ...

from 1989 to 2003.

Early life and education

Chesters is the son of Herbert and Catherine Chesters, of

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

, West Yorkshire. He was educated at Elland Grammar School,

St Chad's College, Durham St Chad's College is one of the Colleges of Durham University#Types of College, recognised colleges of Durham University. Founded in 1904 as St Chad's Hall for the training of Church of England clergy, the college ceased theological training in ...

(Bachelor of Arts, 1959),

St Catherine's Society, Oxford St Catherine's College (colloquially called St Catz or Catz) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford. In 1974, it was also one of the first men's colleges to admit women. It has 528 undergraduate students, 385 graduate st ...

(Bachelor of Arts, 1961), Oxford Master of Arts (1965) and

St Stephen's House, Oxford St Stephen's House is an external theological college with observer status at the University of Oxford, affiliated with the Church of England. From 2003 to 2023 it was a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford. The college typicall ...

(1959–1962). He was ordained

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 denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in 1962,

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1963 and

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

in 1989.

Ministry

Chesters served as

assistant curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are ass ...

of St Anne's

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

from 1962 to 1965. He then became chaplain of Tiffin School (1966–72), a post that he soon combined with that of honorary assistant curate of St Richard's

Ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

(1967–72). Returning to the

north of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

, where he was to spend the rest of his ministry, he became director of education for the

Diocese of Durham The diocese of Durham is a diocese of the Church of England in North East England. The boundaries of the diocese are the historic boundaries of County Durham, meaning it includes the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne and contemporary ...

and rector of

Brancepeth Brancepeth may refer to: *Brancepeth, County Durham, village of England *Brancepeth, Saskatchewan Brancepeth is a hamlet in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. History The community is named for Brancepeth, County Durham, England. Demog ...

(1972–85). He was an

honorary canon Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

Durham Cathedral Durham Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Durham, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Durham and is the Mother Church#Cathedral, mother church of the diocese of Durham. It also contains the ...

from 1975 until 1984. In 1985, he was appointed Archdeacon of Halifax in the

Diocese of Wakefield The Diocese of Wakefield is a former Church of England diocese based in Wakefield in West Yorkshire, covering Wakefield, Barnsley, Kirklees and Calderdale. The cathedral was Wakefield Cathedral and the bishop was the diocesan Bishop of Wa ...

. In 1989, the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

appointed him

on the advice of the Prime Minister,

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

. He took his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 1995. He retired in 2003, and became an

honorary assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan) bishops – in which case they ...

in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

and Gibraltar in Europe. He moved from the diocese of Chester in 2010, ceasing to be an assistant bishop in Chester, remaining one in Europe and becoming one in Southwark (where he lives) and Chichester. Chesters was a

Church Commissioner The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccl ...

from 1982 until 1998. He was first elected to the

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly, is the legislative body of the Church ...

in 1975. He was a member of its standing committee from 1985 to 1989 and 1990 to 1995, and served as vice chairman (1984–90), and later chairman, of the

Board of Education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

."Distinctive or Divisive? The Role of Church Schools." Alan Chesters (bishop),

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a Ford (crossing), ford on ...

. Hockerill Educational Foundation 2001 and Chairman of the Schools Committee. In October 2000, Chesters officially opened an extension at a school in

Oswaldtwistle Oswaldtwistle ( "ozwel twizzel") is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England, southeast of Blackburn, contiguous with Accrington. The town has a rich industrial heritage, being home to James Hargreaves, inventor of the spinning j ...

. His involvement in Anglican education continued as he became a member of the board of governors of his old

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, St Chad's (1980–89), and chairman of the board of governors of

St Martin's College St Martin's College was a British higher education college with campuses in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Ambleside and Carlisle, as well as sites in Whitehaven, Barrow-in-Furness, Barrow and London. It provided undergraduate and postgrad ...

(1991–2003). In 2003, he was appointed to

's first honorary fellowship. He has also been chairman of the

Higher Education Funding Council for England The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

Advisory Committee on Church Colleges and president of the Woodard Corporation.

Memberships and honours

Chesters was a member of the

Countryside Commission The Countryside Commission (formally the Countryside Commission for England and Wales, then the Countryside Commission for England) was a statutory body in England and Wales, and later in England only. Its forerunner, the National Parks Commissi ...

, and chairman of the North West Rural Affairs Forum. In the New Year Honours List 2007, he was appointed a

Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, for services to the community in the

North West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2007 from the

University of Cumbria The University of Cumbria is a public university in Cumbria, with its headquarters in Carlisle and other major campuses in Lancaster, Ambleside, and London. It has roots extending back to the Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts, establi ...

References

Sources

Bishop dices with casino future, ''BBC News'' (26 February 2002)SMC awards Honorary Fellowship to Bishop of Blackburn (15 January 2004)Trinity Foundation for Christianity and CultureGlyn Paflin, Honours for work with children and families, ''Church Times''Gerrard and Hatton head honours, ''BBC News'' (30 December 2006)
*''Debrett's People of Today'' *''Crockford's Clerical Directory'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Chesters, Alan David 1937 births Living people Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford Alumni of St Stephen's House, Oxford Alumni of St Chad's College, Durham People associated with Lancaster University People from Huddersfield 20th-century English Anglican priests Archdeacons of Halifax Bishops of Blackburn 20th-century Church of England bishops Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Clergy from Yorkshire