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

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

bishop 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 ...

in the 20th century.

Education and family

Born the son of E. H. Morris (of

Ross-on-Wye Ross-on-Wye (Welsh: ''Rhosan ar Wy'') is a market town in England, near the border with Wales. It had a population of 10,582 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 11,309 in 2019. It lies in south-eastern Herefordshire, on the River Wye and ...

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

), Arthur was educated at

Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Fitzwilliam College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college traces its origins back to 1869 and the foundation of the Non-Collegiate Students Board, a venture intended to offer academically excellent students of al ...

, taking the degrees

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

(BA) and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

(LLB) in 1920, and proceeding

Cambridge Master of Arts In the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, Bachelors of Arts are promoted to the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts (MA) on application after six or seven years' seniority as members of the university (including years as an ...

(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 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 memb ...

and was

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 var ...

a deacon on

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: 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 The Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS) is an Anglican evangelical mission agency. It was founded in 1836. History of the Society The CPAS was founded in 1836 in the midst of the social upheaval of the Industrial Revolution to take 'the gospel to ...

as Metropolitan Secretary (from 1930). He then returned to vicaring, at St Mark's Hamilton Terrace (in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 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 a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

(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 Anglican cathedral with Bradford and Ripon Cathedrals, in the Diocese of Leeds and a seat of the Bishop of Leeds. Originally the ...

, 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 clergy member 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 of dioceses. The role or offic ...

as the third

Bishop of Pontefract The Bishop of Wakefield is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. The title was first created for a diocesan bishop in 1888, but it was dissolved in 2014. The Bishop of Wakefield is now ...

, 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 k ...

(1 November) at

York Minster The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archb ...

. 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, 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 ...

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 (25 Hen VIII c 21) (Eng) as successor of the papal legate in England. The degrees conferred most comm ...

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ra ...

(DD) the same year and entered the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

as a

Lord Spiritual The Lords Spiritual are the bishops of the Church of England who serve in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom. 26 out of the 42 diocesan bishops and archbishops of the Church of England serve as Lords Spiritual (not counting retired archbi ...

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 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