John Reginald Harmer (11 August 1857 – 9 March 1944) was a long-serving

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 A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy 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 and administration of di ...

who served in two

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Early life

Harmer was born into a clerical family (his parents were George Harmer, Vicar of

Maisemore Maisemore is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 road 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Gloucester, on the west bank of the River Severn. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 488, reducing ...

, and Kate, née Kitching) and educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

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 ...

. Ordained

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 1884, he was a curate at

Monkwearmouth Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bishopwearmouth ...

before becoming

Vice-Principal In larger school systems, a head teacher principal is often assisted by someone known as a vice-principal, deputy principal, or assistant/associate principal. Unlike the principal, the vice-principal does not have quite the decision-making author ...

of the Clergy Training School in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. From 1892, 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 ...

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus") is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th c ...

before appointment to the colonial

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

with his election as Bishop of Adelaide in March 1895. He was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

a bishop in

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

and 23 May and was enthroned at

St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Adelaide and Metropolitan of the Province of South Australia. The cathedral, a significant Adelaide landmark, is sit ...

on 4 July 1895. In 1905, he 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 ...

back to England when he was elected

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

. He was enthroned at

Rochester Cathedral Rochester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, is in Rochester, Kent, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Rochester and seat (''cathedra'') of the Bishop of Rocheste ...

in July 1905 and served for a quarter of a century before his retirement in 1930. As Bishop of Rochester, Harper presided over a diocese which by ‘its geographical position and its naval and military importance’, was at the forefront of the Great War. He blamed German philosophers and Prussian militarism for the War, and spoke of Britain’s determination to protect ‘the sanctity of treaties, the liberty of the smaller nations, and the cause of the weak, the downtrodden and the non-combatants’. Late in his life, Harmer would be most proud of the work he did in support of Belgian refugees displaced by the German advance. Under Harmer’s leadership, the diocese encouraged voluntary recruitment to the forces, praised clergy, clergy families and ex-pupils of church schools for their commitment to the War, provided support including leisure facilities and billets for soldiers and sailors stationed in the area and for women working in munitions factories and gave care and comfort to casualties and their families. Writing in an unpublished autobiography just before his death, Harmer recalled the casualties from the sinking of 3 ships from Chatham one day in September 1914 resulting in one street in Gillingham having 30 widows. He remembered the bombing of a drill shed in 1917 with 147 killed and a funeral cortège one mile long, which he joined. He could hear from his home the sound of the guns in Flanders. ‘Indeed, difficult as it may be to credit, the firing was at certain times as audible as the thud of the football from the field opposite our house where the soldiers were at their games.’ During the War, Harmer ‘threw open his house with real enjoyment to every rank of soldier and sailor.’ The Times obituary, 10.3.1944 He was an active English and Australian

Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, initiated in St Alban's Lodge in Adelaide, and later transferring his membership to England. Harmer died at Marine Cottage,

Instow Instow is a village in north Devon, England. It is on the estuary where the rivers Taw and Torridge meet, between the villages of Westleigh and Yelland and on the opposite bank to Appledore. There is an electoral ward with the same name. The ...

, and was buried at

. His portraits remain at his former official residences of Bishop's Court,

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 Bishopscourt, Rochester.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmer, John Reginald 1884 births People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Anglican bishops of Adelaide 19th-century Anglican bishops in Australia Bishops of Rochester 20th-century Anglican bishops in Australia 1944 deaths Staff of Westcott House, Cambridge 20th-century Church of England bishops