Harold Barrett Robinson (June 14, 1922 - May 5, 1994) was bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Western New York The Episcopal Diocese of Western New York is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the counties of Cattaraugus County, New York, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua County, New York, Chautauqua, Erie Coun ...

from 1970 to 1988, and served as an assisting bishop in the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

from 1989 to 1993.

Biography

Robinson was born in 1922 in

Nelson, Lancashire Nelson is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Pendle in Lancashire, England, it had a population of 29,135 in the 2011 Census. Nelson is north of Burnley and south-west of Colne. Nelson developed as a mill town ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. he came to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

as an infant United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He became an American citizen in 1945. In 1943, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

in 1946 from the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...

. He was ordained deacon in June 1946 and served as assistant in St Paul's Church in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He was ordained priest on December 16, 1946, by Bishop W. Bertrand Stevens of Los Angeles in St Paul's Church. He then served as rector of the same church St Paul's Church in San Diego until 1962 when he became Dean of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. In October 1967, Robinson was elected Coadjutor Bishop of Western New York and was consecrated on February 24, 1968, in St Joseph's Cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral of Buffalo. He succeeded as diocesan bishop in June 1970. On June 4, 1977, he ordained the first three female priests of the diocese, the Reverends Judith Burrows, Sarah Rieth and Patricia Bird. He also helped incorporate the new revised 1979 prayer book which was used throughout the whole diocese by 1987. He retired as Bishop of Western New York in 1988 and served as Assisting Bishop of New York from 1989 to 1993. He died due to Leukemia on May 5, 1994, at the Overlook Hospital in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...

. He was survived by his wife Marie and four daughters.

References

New York Times Obituary
1922 births 1994 deaths People from Nelson, Lancashire General Theological Seminary alumni 20th-century American Episcopal priests Episcopal bishops of Western New York {{US-Anglican-bishop-stub