Cecil John Wood (1874 – 27 April 1957) was the fourth Anglican

Bishop of Melanesia The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From 1861 until the inauguration ...

, serving from 1912 to 1919.

Biography

Wood was educated at

St Peter's College, Oxford St Peter's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Located on New Inn Hall Street, Oxford, United Kingdom, it occupies the site of two of the university's academic halls of the Univers ...

and ordained in 1897. He held curacies at High Halden,

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 ...

, and

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...

before becoming

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 ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

in 1906. Six years later he became

, serving for seven years. He resigned his See effective 31 December 1918. Returning to England he was Rector of

Witnesham Witnesham is a village situated roughly to the north of Ipswich, Suffolk. The main road from Ipswich that links the village to the town is the B1077, Westerfield Road. History It appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Wytenesham’ (Witta's/ ...

, 1919–1924; and undertook occasional episcopal duties, including as archbishop's commissary (i.e. acting diocesan bishop) in 1921. He was then appointed Vicar of Jesmond and an Assistant Bishop of Newcastle from 1924 to 1933. He was

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 ...

Horsham Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

from 1934 to 1940 and then Rector of

West Grinstead West Grinstead () is a village and civil parish in the Horsham District of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the B2135 road four miles (6.3 km) northwest from Henfield. It is within the ancient division of the Rape of Bramber. The ...

until retirement in 1946. He married Margorie Allen Bell, the sister of George Bell,

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

(1929–58). He died in 1957, aged 82.

References

1874 births 1957 deaths Alumni of St Peter's College, Oxford Anglican bishops of Melanesia People from West Grinstead Place of birth missing Place of death missing {{Anglican-bishop-stub