Charles John Corfe (1843 – 20 June 1921) was the inaugural

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 in Korea The Anglican Church of Korea (or Episcopal Church of Korea) is the province of the Anglican Communion in North and South Korea. Founded in 1889, it has over 120 parish and mission churches with a total membership of roughly 65,000 people. Histor ...

from 1889 to 1904.

Biography

Charles Corfe was born in Salisbury, on 14 May 1843, and was the eldest son of Charles Corfe, Organist of

Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford Christ Church Cathedral is a cathedral of the Church of England in Oxford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Oxford and the principal church of the diocese of Oxford. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, Oxford, Christ Church, a colle ...

. Corfe was one of the four "Bible Clerks" educated as an

undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

. After graduating he had a brief spell teaching at

St Michael's College, Tenbury St Michael's College (the College of St Michael and All Angels) at Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, England, was founded by Frederick Ouseley, Sir Frederick Ouseley in 1856 as a boys' Preparatory school (United Kingdom), preparatory school. Ousele ...

before being ordained in 1866. For the next 22 years he was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

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 ...

. On

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) 1889 he was consecrated by

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previousl ...

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 ...

, as missionary bishop of

Chosun Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...

(Korea, then spelled Corea) in Westminster Abbey and was awarded an honorary DD on his appointment in

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. In 1890, he established the Church of St Michael and All the Angels in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

and started three hospitals, two in Seoul and one in

Jemulpo Incheon is a city located in northwestern South Korea, bordering Seoul and Gyeonggi Province to the east. Inhabited since the Neolithic, Incheon was home to just 4,700 people when it became an international port in 1883. As of February 2020, ...

(Incheon). Until 1891, he was also the bishop responsible for

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

before the area formed the

diocese of North China The Diocese of North China ( zh, t=聖公會華北教區, w=Shêng Kung Hui Hua Pei Chiao Chʽü, l=Anglican Diocese of North China), also known as Hua Pei Diocese (), was an Anglican diocese in China established under the supervision of the Chur ...

. In 1897, he baptised the first Anglicans and performed the ritual in Korean. He tendered his resignation to the Archbishop of Canterbury shortly before St James's Day (25 July) 1904, when he wrote a letter to his diocese; by 16 September, the Archbishop had accepted Corfe's resignation and named Arthur Turner his successor. On his retirement he published an account of his pioneering efforts entitled ''The Anglican Church in Corea''. Henry Hutchinson Montgomery wrote the biography, ''Charles John Corfe, Naval Chaplain - Bishop'' in 1927.

References

Bishops in Korea 1843 births 1921 deaths People educated at Lancing College Royal Navy chaplains Alumni of All Souls College, Oxford British expatriates in Korea Anglican bishops in Korea {{Korea-bio-stub