Leonard Hedley Burrows (7 December 18576 February 1940) was an

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 ...

Biography

Born at

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, its population was 78,117, making it the List of Warwickshire towns by population, secon ...

on 7 December 1857, the son of the Rev. Leonard Francis Burrows and grandson of General Montagu Burrows, he was educated at

Charterhouse Charterhouse may refer to: * Charterhouse (monastery), of the Carthusian religious order Charterhouse may also refer to: Places * The Charterhouse, Coventry, a former monastery * Charterhouse School, an English public school in Surrey London ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

. Made a deacon in

Advent Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Chri ...

1881 (18 December) at St Andrew's Church, Farnham and

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

priest the next St Thomas's Day (21 December 1882) at St Nicholas', Guildford — both times by

Harold Browne Edward Harold Browne (6 March 1811 – 18 December 1891) was a bishop of the Church of England. Early life and education Browne was born on 6 March 1811 at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, the second son of Robert Browne of Morton House in Buck ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

— 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 ...

Dorking Dorking () is a market town in Surrey in South East England about south-west of London. It is in Mole Valley, Mole Valley District and the non-metropolitan district, council headquarters are to the east of the centre. The High Street runs ro ...

after which he was

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 ...

Wrecclesham Wrecclesham is a village on the southern outskirts of the town of Farnham in Surrey, England. Its local government district is the Waverley, Surrey, Borough of Waverley. History It was once in the estate of Henry of Blois, Henry of Westminster ...

and then

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

Godalming Godalming ( ) is a market town and civil parish in southwest Surrey, England, around southwest of central London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, at the confluence of the Rivers Wey and Ock. The civil parish covers and includes the settl ...

before his appointment as

Bishop of Lewes The Bishop of Lewes is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Lewes, the county town of East Sussex East Sussex i ...

. He was consecrated a bishop on 11 July 1909, by

Randall Davidson Randall Thomas Davidson, 1st Baron Davidson of Lambeth, (7 April 1848 – 25 May 1930) was an Anglican bishop who was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1903 to 1928. He was the longest-serving holder of the office since the English Reformation, Re ...

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, at Croydon Parish Church.

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 ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

on 21 March 1914 (in a service of investiture at

York Minster York Minster, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The minster is the seat of the archbishop of York, the second-highest of ...

), he served 25 years as its first diocesan bishop. The key figure in the appointment of bishops at that time was the Prime Minister, H. H. Asquith. He regarded Burrows and his wife “as rather of the ‘pushing’ order”, but still had Burrows appointed to Sheffield although Burrows's whole career had been in the south of England. Burrows was a strong supporter of British involvement in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, even though his younger son, Leonard Righton Burrows, was killed in action. He had already written of ‘ ....personal devotion and self-sacrifice even unto death in the cause of righteousness, freedom and truth.’ Three months after his son's death, Burrows praised Church people who ‘have thrown their whole strength into the War’. Clergy were serving as chaplains and in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) was a specialist corps in the British Army which provided medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. On 15 November 2024, the corps was amalgamated with the Royal Army De ...

, and 51 sons of clergymen had volunteered for the military. In 1917, Burrows opposed peace proposals and, in 1918, looked forward to total victory over Germany ‘For the first time in History there is a real chance of obtaining a lasting peace for the world. If the system of military and scientific barbarism for which Germany stands can be finally and completely destroyed, a

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

will be possible which shall exchange the law of force for the force of law. Is any sacrifice too great to achieve so priceless a blessing?’ Like so many of his generation, Burrows would be disappointed that a

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

lay just two decades ahead. Burrows retired from Sheffield in August, 1939, on the eve of the Second World War. He was described as a fine Christian gentleman and a splendid Diocesan. He died on 6 February 1940 aged 82. Burrows was the father of Hedley Burrows (

Dean of Hereford The Dean of Hereford is the head (''primus inter pares'' – first among equals) and chair of the chapter of canons, the ruling body of Hereford Cathedral. The dean and chapter are based at the ''Cathedral Church of Blessed Virgin Mary and St Et ...

) and grandfather of

Simon Burrows Simon Hedley Burrows (8 November 1928 – 5 August 2015) was the Bishop of Buckingham from 1974 to 1994 and the first area bishop under the diocesan area scheme of 1984. Early life Burrows was born on 8 November 1928. He was the grandson of Leo ...

(

Bishop of Buckingham The Bishop of Buckingham is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name from the historic county town of Buckingham; ...

).‘BURROWS, Rt Rev. Simon Hedley’, Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edition, Oxford University Press, December 201

accessed 30 June 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrows, Leonard Hedley 1857 births People educated at Charterhouse School Alumni of New College, Oxford 20th-century Church of England bishops Bishops of Lewes Bishops of Sheffield 1940 deaths