Bishop of Lichfield Vanity Fair 1897-05-27

Augustus Legge (28 November 183915 March 1913) was

Bishop of Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwickshire and West M ...

from 1891 until 1913.

Family and education

Legge was the third son of

William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth William Legge, 4th Earl of Dartmouth FRS, SA (29 November 1784 – 22 November 1853), styled The Honourable William Legge until 1801 and Viscount Lewisham between 1801 and 1810, was a British peer. Background Dartmouth was the son of George L ...

, by his second wife Frances, daughter of

George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington George Barrington, 5th Viscount Barrington (16 July 1761 – 4 March 1829), was a British minister and aristocrat. Early life Barrington was born on 16 July 1761. He was the third son of Maj. Gen. Hon. John Barrington, who died in Paris on 2 A ...

William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth William Walter Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth (12 August 1823 – 4 August 1891), styled Viscount Lewisham until 1853, was a British peer and Conservative politician. Political career Legge was elected in 1849 as Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

, was his half-brother and Heneage Legge his full brother. Mosley, Charles (ed.). ''Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, volume 1.'' (Wilmington, Delaware, USA: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.) p. 924. He was educated at

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church (, the temple or house, ''wikt:aedes, ædes'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by Henry V ...

. He married Fanny Louisa, daughter of William Bruce Stopford Sackville, in 1877. They had several children. Fanny died in December 1911. Legge survived her by two years and died in March 1913, aged 73. He had requested burial at

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ), commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is northwes ...

, near the Dartmouth family seat at Sandwell, should he die in retirement; but as he died in office as Bishop of Lichfield, he is buried there.

Career

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 ...

in 1864, he served curacies at Handsworth, Staffordshire (1864–1866) — where his family owned land — and afterwards at

St Mary's, Bryanston Square St Mary's, Bryanston Square, is a Church of England church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on Wyndham Place, Bryanston Square, London. A related Church of England primary school which was founded next to it bears the same name. History St Mary's, ...

(1866–1867). His brother (by then Earl of Dartmouth, and patron of the church) presented him to become

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of St Bartholomew's,

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

(1867–1879); he became additionally

domestic 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, intelligen ...

Anthony Thorold Anthony Wilson Thorold (13 June 1825 – 25 July 1895) was an Anglican Bishop of Winchester in the Victorian era. The son of a Church of England priest, he also served as Bishop of Rochester. It was in that role that he travelled throughout N ...

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

, and 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 ...

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

(1877–1891); he succeeded his uncle (Henry Legge) as Vicar of St Mary's,

Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...

(1879–1891) — where his brother was

lord of the manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...

; and served additionally as

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 ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

(1880–1886); and of Lewisham (1886–1891) before his appointment 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 ...

: his

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

to the See of Lichfield was

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on of hands. Catholicis ...

St Mary-le-Bow The Church of St Mary-le-Bow () is a Church of England parish church in the City of London, England. Located on Cheapside, one of the city's oldest thoroughfares, the church was founded in 1080, by Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury. Rebuilt seve ...

on 28 September and he was consecrated a bishop at

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

on 29 September 1891, by Edward Benson,

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 ...

. From 1873 to 1876 he was a member of the

London School Board The School Board for London, commonly known as the London School Board (LSB), was an institution of local government and the first directly elected body covering the whole of London. The Elementary Education Act 1870 ( 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75) was ...

, representing the

Division.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legge, Augustus 1839 births 1913 deaths People educated at Eton College Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Bishops of Lichfield 19th-century Church of England bishops 20th-century Church of England bishops Younger sons of earls

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

Members of the London School Board