John Wills Weeks (1799–1857) was the

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 of Sierra Leone from 1855 until his death in Sierra Leone two years later. John Wills Weeks was born in

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the England, English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies w ...

in 1799 and baptised at St Petrox Church there 8 Oct 1799. A

CMS CMS may refer to: Computing * Call management system * CMS-2, a programming language implemented for and used by the United States Navy * Code Morphing Software, a technology used by Transmeta * Collection management system for a museum coll ...

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...

in Sierra Leone from 1825 to 1844 when ill-health caused his return to England, he became

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

of St Thomas's Church and headmaster of Cranbrook School,

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

until his appointment to the

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 ...

. He 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 ...

(DD). On 7 December 1826, Weeks married his first wife Anna Pope, née Haynes, widow of John Pope, a missionary who died after only 6 months of service in Sierra Leone. She predeceased him 10 January 1839. His second wife Phoebe Graham, née Davey, née Goodwin, from

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, widow of Henry Graham, died in 1866 and was buried in

West Norwood West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...

. Weeks died on March 25, 1857. His papers are held at the University of Birmingham.National Archives website, ''Weeks, John Wills''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weeks, John Year of birth unknown 19th-century Anglican bishops in Sierra Leone English Anglican missionaries Anglican missionaries in Sierra Leone Anglican bishops of Sierra Leone 1799 births 1857 deaths People from Dartmouth, Devon