Arthur Harold Morris (20 February 189815 October 1977)''Obituary — The Right Rev A. H. Morris'' ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' Monday 17 October 1977; p. 15; Issue 60136; col. F was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 the 20th century.

Education and family

Born the son of E. H. Morris (of

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, near the border with Wales. It had a population estimated at 10,978 in 2021. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the River Wye and on the northern edge of the Fore ...

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), Arthur was educated at

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college has origins from 1869, with the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of all ...

, taking the degrees

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

(BA) and

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

(LLB) in 1920, and proceeding Cambridge Master of Arts (MA Cantab) in 1924. Morris went straight from school into the army, and was commissioned into the King’s (Liverpool) Regiment in 1916 and became a second lieutenant in 1917. After only 113 days, he was deemed unfit for service because of a heart defect possibly resulting from an attack of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in the spring of 1915. This left him free to study and he trained for the ministry at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and members ...

and was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a deacon on

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christianity, Western Christian liturgical year, liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the ...

(11 June) 1922 and a priest the next Trinity Sunday (27 May). He married Evelyn Ethel Woods in 1924 and they had three sons before he was widowed in 1953.

Priest

Following his title post, as assistant curate of All Soul,

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, north-west London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towar ...

, Morris' first incumbency was as Vicar of Great Clacton with Little Holland (1926–1930), after which he served the Church Pastoral-Aid Society as Metropolitan Secretary (from 1930). He then returned to vicaring, at St Mark's Hamilton Terrace (in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropo ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from 1933), later (1939–1946) also becoming

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of the

St Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also ) is an area in London, England, and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropoli ...

area. He was as an RAF

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(1940–1945) and served, briefly, as a Proctor in Convocation for London in 1945. After the war had ended — in 1946 —, he became both Archdeacon of Halifax and a canon (of St Hilda) of

Wakefield Cathedral Wakefield Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, is a co-equal Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral with Bradford Cathedral, Bradford and Ripon Cathedral, Ripon Cathedrals, in the Anglican Diocese of Le ...

, and was elected a Proctor for that diocese.

Bishop

In 1949, he was moved to a different archdeaconry and canonry of the same diocese and cathedral — Archdeacon of Pontefract and St Chad's canon — and additionally appointed to the

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

as the third

Bishop of Pontefract The Bishop of Wakefield is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the City status in the United Kingdom, city of Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. Th ...

, the bishop suffragan of the diocese. His appointment to the suffragan See was approved in August 1949 and he was ordained and consecrated a

All Saints' Day All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, the Feast of All Saints, the Feast of All Hallows, the Solemnity of All Saints, and Hallowmas, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints of the Church, whether they are know ...

(1 November) at

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

. Morris was appointed Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich after it had been vacant for over one year. The diocese had expressed a wish not to have an administrator like the retired bishop but ‘a man of God’. At that time, the Prime Minister was the key figure in the appointment process and, advised by Archbishop

Fisher Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral. Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to: Places Australia * Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland *Elec ...

, eventually offered the post to Morris after it had been refused by the Dean of Bristol. In recommending Morris, Fisher wrote ‘His strength lies in his pastoral work. He is sensible, practical and devout, and though he is no great preacher or theologian, he commends himself to his flock by his character and disposition.’ Morris was installed at

St Edmundsbury Cathedral St Edmundsbury Cathedral (formally entitled the Cathedral Church of St James and St Edmund) is the cathedral for the Church of England's Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich. It is the seat of the Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and is in ...

on 22 July 1954. He was awarded the

Lambeth degree A Lambeth degree is an academic degree conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most commonly are DD (Doctor of Div ...

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

(DD) the same year and entered 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 ...

as a

Lord Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who sit in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. Up to 26 of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not including retired bish ...

in 1959. Morris resigned in September, 1965, following a stroke. A measure of his success was that when it came to a choice of a successor, the diocese sought a ‘pastorally-minded’ bishop like Morris. Leslie Brown, Archbishop of Uganda, pastor and theologian, was appointed. In 1971, Morris wrote a short biographical note in which he described a diocese of nearly 500 parishes. ‘I regarded my work definitely as a pastoral bishop and it was my hope that I should be able to visit all the clergy, understand their difficulties and help them in any way possible to do their work efficiently. In other words, I regarded myself as a friend to all’.University of Bradford Special Collections. Peary-Binns Papers He died at

Holbrook, Suffolk Holbrook is a village situated close to the northern shore of the estuary of the River Stour, Suffolk, River Stour, in Suffolk, England. It is located on the Shotley Peninsula in Babergh District, Babergh district, around south of the centre o ...

on 15 October 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris, Arthur Harold 1898 births Alumni of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Archdeacons of Halifax Archdeacons of Pontefract Bishops of Pontefract Bishops of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich 1977 deaths 20th-century Church of England bishops World War II chaplains Royal Air Force chaplains