The Reverend Augustus Shears (25 July 1827 - 25 May 1911) was the sixth and youngest son of Daniel Towers Shears (1784–1860), a partner of

James Shears and Sons James Shears and Sons was a firm of London coppersmiths and braziers who were active from c1785 to 1891. The firm was founded by James Shears (c1750-1820) and continued by his two sons Daniel Towers Shears (1782–1860) and James Henry Shears (178 ...

, and Frances Spurrell (1788–1834), daughter of John

Spurrell Spurrell is a surname found in Norfolk, Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom, as well as in various countries around the world. Origins It has been suggested that the name of the Norfolk family is derived from the village of Sporle, near ...

Bessingham Bessingham is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sustead, in the North Norfolk district of the English county of Norfolk. It lies north-north-west of Aylsham and south-south-west of Cromer. In 1931 the parish had a popula ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the Nort ...

. Born in Wimbledon, he was educated at Rugby and

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. Th ...

, and in 1851 was ordained a

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 churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

. After serving as

Curate 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 ...

of the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

es of

Lutterworth Lutterworth is a market town and civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. The town is located in southern Leicestershire, close to the borders with Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. It is located north of Rugby ...

, Leicestershire (1851–1853),

Escrick Escrick is a village and civil parish in the Selby District of North Yorkshire, England. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974. It is approximately equidistant between Selby and York on what is now the A19 road. Hi ...

, Yorkshire (1853–1855), and

Abbots Langley Abbots Langley is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. It is an old settlement and is mentioned (under the name of Langelai) in the Domesday Book. Economically the village is closely linked to Watford and was f ...

, Hertfordshire (1855–1859), he worked as a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Moulmein Mawlamyine (also spelled Mawlamyaing; , ; th, เมาะลำเลิง ; mnw, မတ်မလီု, ), formerly Moulmein, is the fourth-largest city in Myanmar (Burma), ''World Gazetteer'' south east of Yangon and south of Thaton, at t ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

(1859–1862), where he set up a school and translated part of the

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christianity, Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 ...

into Burmese.http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/Muss-Arnolt/part4c.htm - Retrieved on 31 December 2010 Having returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

due to ill health, he became Curate of

Ardingly Ardingly ( ) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about south of London and east-north-east of the county town of Chiche ...

, Sussex (1862–1864), Heathfield, Sussex (1864–1866),

Southover Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...

, Sussex (1866–1868), and then St. Bartholomew's,

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ...

, Sussex (1868–1873). He then went on 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 pr ...

Sileby Sileby is a former industrial village and civil parish in the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, between Leicester and Loughborough. Nearby villages include Barrow upon Soar, Mountsorrel, Ratcliffe-on-the-Wreake, Seagrave and Cossington, Leicesters ...

, Leicestershire (1873–1894), and later

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 ...

Black Notley Black Notley is a village and civil parish in Essex, England. It is located approximately south of Braintree and is north-northeast from the county town of Chelmsford. According to the 2011 census including Young's End it had a population of 2 ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

(1894–1907). He died at

Southsea Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre. Southsea is not a separate town as all of Portsea Island's ...

on 25 May 1911. On 2 May 1861 Augustus Shears married Annie Williams, daughter of the missionary Rev. Jackson Muspratt Williams (who died in Madras in 1832 aged 30) and sister of Major General Jackson Muspratt-Williams (1831–1901), and had three children, the eldest of whom, Augustus Jackson Shears, went on to become a barrister at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. Augustus Shears was a cousin of Rev. Ernest Henry Shears and Rev.

Frederick Spurrell Frederick Spurrell (2 August 1824 – 23 February 1902) was an Anglican priest and archaeologist. Early life and education Frederick Spurrell was born at 23, Park Street in Southwark at a time when his father, Charles Spurrell (1783–1866), was ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shears, Augustus 1827 births 1911 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge People educated at Rugby School 19th-century English Anglican priests People from Wimbledon, London People from Sileby People from Black Notley