Christopher Bethell (21 April 1773 – 19 April 1859) was

Bishop of Bangor The Bishop of Bangor is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Diocese of Bangor of the Church in Wales. The Episcopal see, see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Bangor Cathedral, Cathedral Church of Sa ...

. Bethell was the second son of the Reverend Richard Bethell, the rector of St Peter's

Wallingford, Berkshire Wallingford () is a historic market town and civil parish on the River Thames in South Oxfordshire, England, north of Reading, south of Oxford and north west of Henley-on-Thames. Although belonging to the Historic counties of England, hist ...

, who died 12 January 1806 having married his wife Ann in 1771 (she was the daughter of James Clitherow of Boston House, Middlesex). He was born at Isleworth, Surrey and educated at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he graduated BA in 1796, MA in 1799 and DD in 1817; obtained a fellowship and was second member's prizeman in 1797. Bethell was rector of

Kirby Wiske Kirby Wiske is an English village and civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire. It lies beside the River Wiske, about north-west of Thirsk. History The village appears in the 1086 ''Domesday Book'' as Kirkebi in the Allerton Hundred. Aft ...

, Yorkshire, from 1808 to 1830;

Dean of Chichester The Dean of Chichester is the dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England. Bishop Ralph is credited with the foundation of the current cathedral after the original structure built by Stigand was largely destroyed by fire in 1114. He did ...

from 5 April 1814 and a prebendary of Exeter from 22 June 1830. Lord Liverpool nominated him as the

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester, England, Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Gloucestershire, County of Gloucestershire and part ...

on 11 March 1824.

The Duke of Wellington Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (; 1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was a British Army officer and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures in Britain during the late 18th and early 19th cent ...

transferred him to the more lucrative see of

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

on 8 April 1830 and again, on 28 October in the same year, to the still more lucrative see of Bangor, which he held up to the time of his death. Bethell was during the whole of his life identified with the

High Church A ''high church'' is a Christian Church whose beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, Christian liturgy, liturgy, and Christian theology, theology emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, ndsacraments," and a standard liturgy. Although ...

party. He was the author of several theological works, the principal of which is ''A General View of the Doctrine of Regeneration in Baptism'' (1821). His other works are chiefly charges and sermons. His ignorance of the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

was a very great hindrance to his usefulness in the

Diocese of Bangor The Diocese of Bangor is a Diocese#Church of England and Anglican Communion, diocese of the Church in Wales in North West Wales. The diocese covers Anglesey, most of Caernarfonshire and Merionethshire and the western part of Montgomeryshire. His ...

, where 195,000 out of 200,000 people understood little more than their native tongue. Bethell died at his episcopal residence in Bangor on 19 April 1859 and was buried in

Llandegai Llandygai (, ; ; also Llandegai) is a small village and community on the A5 road between Bangor and Talybont in Gwynedd, Wales. It affords a view of the nearby Carneddau mountain range. The population of the community taken at the 2011 Cen ...

churchyard on 27 April. At the time of his death he was the oldest of the active Welsh bishops.

References

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bethell, Christopher 1773 births 1859 deaths Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Bishops of Bangor 19th-century Welsh Anglican bishops People from Isleworth Deans of Chichester 19th-century Church of England bishops 18th-century Anglican theologians 19th-century Anglican theologians