Ernest Edwin Curtis (24 December 1906 – 15 August 1999) was an Anglican Archbishop in the second half of the 20th century.

Early life

He was born on

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipati ...

, 1906 in

Stalbridge Stalbridge () is a small town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale, near the border with Somerset. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes the hamlets of Stalbridge Weston, and Thornhill—had 1,160 ho ...

and educated at

Foster's School Foster's Grammar School for Boys, Sherborne, Dorset, was founded by Richard Foster in 1640. It closed in 1992. History Foster's School was initially endowed by Richard Foster from rent collected at Foster's Farm at Boy's Hill in the parish of H ...

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...

and

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a ...

, becoming an associate member of the

Royal College of Science The Royal College of Science was a higher education institution located in South Kensington; it was a constituent college of Imperial College London from 1907 until it was wholly absorbed by Imperial in 2002. Still to this day, graduates from th ...

in 1927. After teaching at Lindisfarne College,

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

, he trained for ordination at

Wells Theological College Wells Theological College began operation in 1840 within the Cathedral Close of Wells Cathedral. It was one of several new colleges created in the nineteenth century to cater not just for non-graduates, but for graduates from the old universit ...

Career

Made deacon on

Trinity Sunday Trinity Sunday is the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Western Christian liturgical calendar, and the Sunday of Pentecost in Eastern Christianity. Trinity Sunday celebrates the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the three Persons of God: the ...

1933 (11 June) and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

priest the following Trinity (27 May 1934) — both times by

Michael Furse Michael Bolton Furse, KCMG (born Bolton Michael Furse;''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1837–1915'' 12 October 1870 – 18 June 1955) was an emi ...

Bishop of St Albans The Bishop of St Albans is the Ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of St Albans in the Province of Canterbury. The bishop is supported in his work by two suffragan bishops, the Bishop of Hertford and the Bishop of Bedford, and three ar ...

, at St Albans Cathedral, he began his career as a

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 ...

at Holy Trinity,

Waltham Cross Waltham Cross is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, located north of central London. In the south-eastern corner of Hertfordshire, it borders Cheshunt to the north, Waltham Abbey to the east, and Enfield to the so ...

. From 1937 to 1944 he was

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 ...

in charge of Rose Hill and

Bambous, Mauritius Bambous is a small town in Mauritius located in the Rivière Noire District. The village is administered by the Bambous Village Council under the aegis of the Rivière Noire District Council. According to the census made by Statistics Mauritius i ...

and principal of St Paul's Theological College. On his return to England he was

priest in charge A priest in charge or priest-in-charge (previously also curate-in-charge) in the Church of England is a priest in charge of a parish who is not its incumbent. Such priests are not legally responsible for the churches and glebe, but simply hold ...

of St Wilfrid,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

, then

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 ...

of All Saints, in the same city. After this 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 ...

Alverstoke Alverstoke is a small settlement which forms part of the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred east of the shore of Stokes Bay ...

before his elevation to the Anglican

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

in 1966 as

Bishop of Mauritius The Bishop of Mauritius () has been the Ordinary of the Anglican Church in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean since its inception in 1854. The current bishop is Ian Ernest, who was also the Archbishop of the Indian Ocean until 2017. Bishops *1854 Vin ...

until 1976, when he was succeeded by

Ghislain Emmanuel Ghislain Elwyn Emmanuel (died 16 February 1977) was Bishop of Mauritius from 1976 to 1977. He was educated at King's College London and ordained deacon in 1956 and priest in 1957. His first post was as a Curate at Vacoas (1956-58) after which he ...

, the first native Mauritian bishop but who died soon after his consecration, and then

Trevor Huddleston Ernest Urban Trevor Huddleston (15 June 191320 April 1998) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Stepney in London before becoming the second Archbishop of the Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean. He was best known f ...

. Curtis was consecrated a bishop on All Saints' Day (1 November) 1966, by

Michael Ramsey Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was an English Anglican bishop and life peer. He served as the 100th Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and held the office until ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury, at

Southwark Cathedral Southwark Cathedral ( ) or The Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Saviour and St Mary Overie, Southwark, London, lies on the south bank of the River Thames close to London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwar ...

. Later he became the first archbishop of the Indian Ocean.

Personal life

He married Dorothy Hill in 1937, and had a son and a daughter. After his first wife's death, he married secondly, in 1970, Evelyn Josling. He died on 15 August 1999 at the age of 92.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Edwin 1906 births 1999 deaths People from Stalbridge People educated at Foster's School Alumni of the Royal College of Science Associates of the Royal College of Science 20th-century Anglican bishops in Asia 20th-century Anglican archbishops Anglican bishops of Mauritius Anglican archbishops of the Indian Ocean English chaplains Christian chaplains