Frederick Merivale Molyneux (called Merivale;Blain, Michael. ''Blain Biographical Directory of Anglican clergy in the South Pacific – ordained before 1932'' (2019) pp. 1064–8 (Accessed a
Project Canterbury
27 June 2019) 10 May 188520 November 1948) was a British Anglican bishop who served as

Bishop of Melanesia The Archbishop of Melanesia is the spiritual head of the Anglican Church of Melanesia, which is a province of the Anglican Communion in the South Pacific region, covering the nations of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. From 1861 until the inauguration ...

Family and education

Born at

Bransgore Bransgore is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the New Forest District, Hampshire, England. The village developed in the 19th century when a church and a school were built. It is technically classified as an urban area ...

, Molyneux was the son of Rosa and Frederick Molyneux (a priest) and grandson of lawyer Echlin Molyneux; he was younger brother to Ernest, also a priest, who served as his

commissary A commissary is a government official charged with oversight or an ecclesiastical official who exercises in special circumstances the jurisdiction of a bishop. In many countries, the term is used as an administrative or police title. It often c ...

in Britain (1928–1932). Merivale was educated at

Rossall School Rossall School is a private Day school, day and boarding school, boarding school in the United Kingdom for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St. Vincent Beechey, St Vincent Beechey as a ...

, and

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

(he graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1908 and proceeded Master of Arts (Oxford) in 1913), and trained for the ministry at Cuddesdon College.

Early ministry

He was made deacon at

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 ...

1909 (18 December) and ordained priest at

Lent Lent (, 'Fortieth') is the solemn Christianity, Christian religious moveable feast#Lent, observance in the liturgical year in preparation for Easter. It echoes the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring Temptation of Christ, t ...

1911 (12 March) — both times by William Boyd Carpenter,

Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...

, at

Ripon Cathedral The Cathedral Church of St Peter and St Wilfrid, commonly known as Ripon Cathedral, and until 1836 known as Ripon Minster, is a cathedral in Ripon, North Yorkshire, England. Founded as a monastery by monks of the Irish tradition in the 660s, ...

. His title (curacy) was of All Souls' Leeds, until 1913, when he returned to Cuddesdon as college Chaplain. During this time (the

Great 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 ...

), he was also a Chaplain to the Forces (CF) in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

(1916–19): for which he was

mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

, made a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(3 June 1918) and an honorary chaplain to the forces (Hon CF) in 1919. He had been in Mesopotamia for 3 years other than for 6 months leave in 1918 spent in Ceylon. He had spent much of his commission working in hospitals. He served as Vicar of

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye, Buckinghamshire, River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, ...

from 1920.

Melanesia

On 14 July 1924, the Melanesian Mission committee in England recommended Molyneux to the New Zealand bishops and John Steward,

, for appointment as an assistant bishop of that diocese; by April 1925, when Thomas Strong,

Bishop of Oxford The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft (bishop), Steven Croft, following the Confirm ...

, presented him with a

crozier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

at High Wycombe, that recommendation had been accepted, and he was duly consecrated a bishop on 9 August 1925 by

Alfred Averill Alfred Walter Averill (7 October 18656 July 1957) was the second Anglican Archbishop of New Zealand, from 1925 to 1940. He was also the fifth Anglican Anglican Diocese of Auckland, Bishop of Auckland whose episcopate spanned a 25-year period durin ...

Archbishop of New Zealand Primate of New Zealand is a title held by a bishop who leads the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. Since 2006, the Senior Bishop of each ''Tikanga Māori, tikanga'' (Māori people, Māori, Pākehā, Diocese of Polynesia, Pa ...

in St Paul's Pro-Cathedral, Wellington. Molyneux then served as Assistant Bishop of Melanesia from 1925 to 1928: initially, he had responsibility for the Southern Archdeaconery (based in Lolowai, Aoba (now called

Ambae Ambae, also known as Aoba, Omba, Oba, or Opa and formerly Lepers’ Island, is an island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu, approximately north-northwest of Vanuatu's capital city, Port Vila. It is also Vanuatu's largest activ ...

), but lived primarily in the Banks Islands; however, as Steward's health declined, Molyneux increasingly assisted him throughout the diocese. Steward having announced his imminent resignation (due to ill-health), on 13 June 1928 the diocesan synod unanimously chose to nominate Molyneux for the diocesan See; Steward having resigned effective 1 August, the New Zealand bishops elected Molyneux on 16 August, and he was enthroned at St Luke's Cathedral, Siota on 13 November. His assistant bishop Edward Wilton having resigned 1 July 1929, Molyneux he wrote to the Mission committee on 8 October 1930 to ask for a new assistant bishop; in 1931,

John Dickinson John Dickinson (November 13, O.S. November 2">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. November 21732Various sources indicate a birth date of November 8, 12 or 13, but his most recent biographer ...

became assistant bishop for the Southern area.Blain. p. 426.

Return to Britain

In the midst of allegations of "improper conduct with young men" and "concerns about erotic involvements with men", he experienced a "complete nervous breakdown", resigned his See in November 1931, and left the Solomon Islands. He arrived back in Britain in January 1932, where he retired to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

— initially with his father at Martyr Worthy rectory.

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively Bishop of Southwark (1919–32), Bishop of Winchester (1932–42) and Archbishop of York (1942–55). Early life Garbett was ...

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 ...

, declined to license the younger Molyneux to any ministry; he became a farmer. He died at the Royal Victoria Hospital,

Boscombe Boscombe () is a suburb in Bournemouth England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 ...

and was buried at Bransgore.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molyneux, Frederick Merivale 1885 births 1948 deaths Anglican bishops of Melanesia Anglican assistant bishops of Melanesia 20th-century English Anglican priests LGBTQ Anglican bishops Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of Ripon College Cuddesdon People educated at Rossall School