Michael Ashley Mann KCVO (25 May 1924 – 31 December 2011) 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 ...

during the last quarter of the 20th century.

Early life

He was born on 25 May 1924 in

Harrow, London Harrow () is a large town in Greater London, England, and serves as the principal settlement of the London Borough of Harrow. Lying about north-west of Charing Cross and south of Watford, the entire town including its localities had a populat ...

, England. He was educated at

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

, an all-boys public school in London, where was a member of the shooting team. Mann attended a wartime short course at the

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC) was a United Kingdom, British military academy for training infantry and cavalry Officer (armed forces), officers of the British Army, British and British Indian Army, Indian Armies. It was founded in 1801 at Gre ...

. Then, 1943 to 1946, he served as an officer in the

1st King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was an armoured cavalry and dragoon guard regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James ...

, an armoured car regiment of the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

. He began his active service in North Africa equipped with the Humber Armoured Car. Then, in September 1943, he was involved in the

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

landings of

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

. As a troop leader, he advanced north through Italy to

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

, where the armoured cars became stuck in the boggy ground and the regiment resorted to

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey, and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two ...

s and even formed an operational horse troop. His troop were then posted to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

to help the local

Italian partisans The Italian Resistance ( ), or simply ''La'' , consisted of all the Italian resistance groups who fought the occupying forces of Nazi Germany and the fascist collaborationists of the Italian Social Republic during the Second World War in Italy ...

maintain order in the city, and Mann took over a bar on the

Piazza della Repubblica Piazza della Repubblica may refer to: * Piazza della Repubblica (Alcamo) * Piazza della Repubblica, Rome * Piazza della Repubblica, Florence Piazza della Repubblica (, ''Republic Square'') is a city square in Florence, Italy. It was originally t ...

as a base for himself and his troops. From 1946 to 1955, he served in the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

in Nigeria.

Ordained ministry

Ordained in 1957 he was later

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 ...

Sparkwell Sparkwell is a small village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon. Historically it was part of Haytor Hundred. Its local Anglican church is All Saints Church, Sparkwell. Its local non-conformist church is Lee Mill Congregation ...

, a

Canon Residentiary Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

Bishop of Dudley The Bishop of Dudley is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town ...

and finally

Dean of Windsor The Dean of Windsor is the spiritual head of the Canon (priest), canons of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, England. The dean chairs meetings of the Chapter of Canons as ''primus inter pares''. The post of Dean of Wolverhampton was assimilat ...

.''New Dean of Windsor ''

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 ...

Wednesday, 16 Jun 1976; pg. 16; Issue 59731; col E He retired in 1989.

Personal life

In 1990, the year after his retirement, his first wife died. In 1991, he married the widow of George Pepys,

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; ...

from 1964 to 1974. He died at 87 on 31 December 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mann, Michael Ashley 1924 births People educated at Harrow School Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst Bishops of Dudley 20th-century Church of England bishops Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order Deans of Windsor 2011 deaths Honorary chaplains to the King