The Right Reverend Dr. John Curtis (15 March 1880 – 11 July 1962) was an Irish missionary of the

Anglican Church 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 ...

and bishop of Chekiang, China from 1929 to 1950. Born in Dublin on 15 March 1880, Curtis was educated at

Trinity College, Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Univ ...

and earned the Trinity Master of Arts (MA Dubl) degree. He later became a

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (DD or DDiv; ) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity (academic discipline), divinity (i.e., Christian theology and Christian ministry, ministry or other theologies. The term is more common in the Englis ...

. After his ordination in 1904 he was a

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () 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 who are as ...

at Christ Church, Leeson Park in his home city. He then joined the Dublin University Mission to Fukien. Curtis married Eda Bryan-Brown, a fellow missionary and medical doctor, in Funing in 1914. From 1917 to 1918 Curtis was a Temporary Chaplain to the Forces serving in

Salonika Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

. He was appointed

Bishop of Chekiang The Bishop of Chekiang, exercised episcopal leadership over the Diocese of Chekiang of the Anglican Church in China. The diocese, similar in extent to the present-day Zhejiang, was originally established as part of the Church of England. The first ...

in 1929 and held the position until 1950, during which period the Nationalist, Communist and Japanese armies fought over the country. Curtis and his wife were sent to a Japanese prison camp for civilians in 1942. He was transferred to another prison for "dangerous persons", while his wife remained interned in the civilian camp. They returned to England in 1950. Curtis then became

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 p ...

of Wilden, a small village near

Stourport-on-Severn Stourport-on-Severn, often shortened to Stourport, is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest (district), Wyre Forest District of North Worcestershire, England, 4 miles to the south of Kidderminster and downstream on the River Severn from Be ...

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. He retired in 1957. Curtis and his wife had two children. Handicapped by severe arthritis in his retirement, he died on 11 July 1962 at age 82 at

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

. His widow died on 18 January 1964.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

''; Monday, 16 Jul 1962; p. 12; Issue 55444; col. E ''Rt. Rev. Dr. John Curtis''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, John 1880 births Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Anglican missionary bishops in China 1962 deaths Christian clergy from Dublin (city) 20th-century Anglican bishops in China Anglican bishops of Chekiang