Ian Gordon Combe George (12 August 1934 – 28 January 2019) was an Australian

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. He was the third

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

and

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ar ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

from 1991 to 2004.

Early life and education

George was educated at

St Peter's College, Adelaide St Peter's College (officially The Anglican Church of Australia Collegiate School of Saint Peter, but commonly known as Saints) is an Private school, independent Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican Primary school, primary and Secondary school ...

and the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

Career

After an earlier career as a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

, he was ordained a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in 1964. He held curacies at St Thomas's

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and St David's Burnside; and was then

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; they will normally work on a short-term contract and have less freedom to act within the ...

at St Barbara's Woomera. After this he was a

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 ...

and

lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct re ...

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

. He was

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

from 1973 to 1981 when he became

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denomina ...

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. In 1989, he was appointed an

assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan bishop, suffragan) bishops – in ...

of the diocese, consecrated on 28 October; and in 1991 was

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

. George ordained five women to the priesthood on 5 December 1992 at St Peter's Cathedral in Adelaide. George was first recognised as a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the

1989 Australia Day Honours The 1989 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 1989 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Aust ...

. In the

2001 Australia Day Honours The 2001 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2001 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir William Deane. The Austr ...

, George was further recognised as an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) "for service to the Anglican Church, ecumenism and to the community through engagement in social policy issues and international relief work." His passion for refugees was a hallmark of his social engagement, in particular during his time as Archbishop of Adelaide. George was awarded the

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

on 1 January 2001 for his "service to Australian society through the Anglican Church of Australia". A keen supporter of the arts, especially the visual arts, George loved to make links between the great Christian themes of forgiveness, redemption and resurrection and the great masters. His Good Friday tours of the Art Gallery of South Australia were one way he expressed his love of the arts. He was co-author with painter David Dridan in the publication ''Artists of the Fleurieu'' (2008). In 2004, George resigned from the role of archbishop due to mishandling of sex abuse allegations. This was just 10 weeks before he was due to retire. Later, he admitted he should have listened to the priest who blew the whistle on the Brandenburg sex-abuse scandal that engulfed the church and cost him his job. At the Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse in January 2015 he described this as a "serious error in judgement". George moved to Melbourne following his resignation as Archbishop of Adelaide. He suffered a stroke in late 2018, and another in early 2019. He died at

The Alfred Hospital The Alfred Hospital, (also known as The Alfred or Alfred Hospital) is a leading tertiary hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. It is the second oldest hospital in Victoria after Melbourne Hospital which is still operating on its original site. The ...

two weeks later, on 28 January 2019.

Personal life

George was married to Barbara George.Anglican Communion Directory, March 2000
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, Ian 1934 births 2019 deaths 20th-century Anglican archbishops 20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia 21st-century Anglican archbishops Adelaide Law School alumni Anglican archbishops of Adelaide Anglican archdeacons in Australia Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Canberra and Goulburn Deans of Brisbane Officers of the Order of Australia People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide Academic staff of the University of Western Australia